This paper aims to provide a framework for policy-makers and transportation and urban design professionals to evaluate alternative urban plans and infrastructure design, allowing them to select a set of locally relevant indicators to help assess scenarios considering sustainable development and overall system performance improvement in line with specific project goals. Using methods of systematic review, content analysis, multi-criteria analysis, and expert consultation, a three-level goal system is proposed, leading to the generation of 64 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), both qualitative and quantitative, and an indicator set of 227 items. To allow stakeholders to apply their own set of indicators, the approaches and tools of measuring these indicators as well as the ways of using this indicator set are presented to assist decision-makers in evaluating and choosing optimal plans and designs.

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is a powerful urban planning strategy to enhance sustainability and provide socioeconomic benefits for cities. The human-centered design of public spaces around subway stations is a critical issue in TOD. In this study, a socio-technical system-based perspective was adopted to investigate the impact of using different design strategies in public spaces around subway stations on human emotional responses. The novelty of this study lies in performing a human factors experiment to examine human emotional reactions to outdoor public spaces surrounding transit stations using a comprehensive method combining physiological assessment and subjective self-report. Thirty-four participants were recruited for the experiment, which was conducted at the catchment areas of two subway stations in Nanjing, China. Urban design characteristics related to open space enclosure and visual elements, natural elements, pedestrian access, surrounding buildings or walls, and land use and activities were tested in both semi-underground and above-ground public spaces. Additionally, human emotions were assessed using the pleasure, arousal, and dominance model and by investigating the four response systems that predominantly reflect people’s emotional states. These results led to design and policy suggestions that could assist practitioners and researchers in selecting relevant approaches for human-oriented and place-based TOD planning. Graphical abstract