A Study on Categorizing Subway Station Areas in Seoul by Rail Use Pattern

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to categorize subway station areas in Seoul by rail use characteristic. Most studies have categorized rail-oriented areas, based on land use patterns or/and urban spatial structure in Korea as well as the United States. However, the land use pattern of a subway station area tends to form by the real use of subway users since the latter plays an important role in forming the former. Therefore, the study is expected to contribute to the planning and policy of subway station areas in Seoul by analyzing characteristics of rail use. To achieve the purpose, the study uses a factor analysis for rail use, in terms of time of the day and day of the week. and then conducted a multidimensional scaling method to identify a relation of the real pattern to land use pattern. The results find that the Seoul subway station areas are categorized into residential, commercial and recreational, and office-centered ones. Furthermore, unlike the results of previous studies, the study identifies that many station areas have the mixed characteristics of economic activities. That is, they form more than a centered function such as residential and commercial, residential and office, commercial and office, residential, commercial and office. In addition, the study identifies that there is a close connection between rail use and land one. In short, identification of these mixed characteristics for subway station areas is expected to contribute to developing the planning and development method of TOD in Korea.