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This research study aims at revealing a planning method for the development of the Souq Waqif-Transit village.

Over the past decade, transit-oriented developments (TODs) have become an international city planning model for promoting sustainable urbanism. On a regional scale, the State of Qatar launched the construction of Doha Metro. The current network consists of three lines with a central interchange station within the city's most vibrant cultural core, i.e., between Msheireb Downtown Doha and Msheireb, near to the Souq Waqif historical site and Al Corniche waterfront promenade. The Qatar National Development Framework emphasizes the importance of stimulating sustainable urban growth by linking the Doha Metro with TODs.

The findings show that the benefits of a strategy for monitoring and assessing the potential benefits of the investigated TOD linked to the analysis of the indices for (1) travel behavior, (2) built environment diversity and (3) other categories specific to the site's historical-heritage preservation.

Namely, a comprehensive approach for developing a historical site is/should be grounded in a planning method for enhancing the mixed-used urban fabric, public realm and walkability, and heritage preservation.

The insights from this research study aim to guide the long-term sustainable urban growth of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) cities in the future.

The proposed sustainable growth planning scheme for the Souq Waqif addresses gaps highlighted through design tools of investigation. The missing attributes concern three key factors: (1) mixed-used urban fabric, (2) public realm and walkability and (3) built heritage preservation. The quality of streetscape, corridors, connections and connectivity of pedestrian and walkable network: TOD is not dependent on a singular mode of transport (Doha Metro), but it includes all systems that allow for mass public mobility within the city districts. Integrating other transport systems within mixed-use areas should be reevaluated based on accessibility to such systems, including taxi services, public bus services and public shuttles.

Unprecedented levels of investment in transit and transit-oriented development in Los Angeles County have not resulted in gains for transit-dependent populations or overall higher ridership for that matter. They have instead saddled them with inordinate cost burdens and displacement pressures. Yet racialised, low-income communities that rely on transit are far from passive victims. Rather, they are participating in advocacy campaigns that penetrate decision-making venues and procedures and co-create institutional practices, policy priorities, and public and private investments that serve their interests and build a Los Angeles that is more widely accessible and affordable. This chapter presents a case study of the Alliance for Community Transit-Los Angeles (ACT-LA), a regional coalition of over 40 community-based organisations at the helm of direct-action policy campaigns and participatory planning initiatives to advance transit justice and equitable transit-oriented communities (TOC). After examining ACT-LA's origins in the LA-based movement for community benefits agreements, the analysis focuses on how ACT-LA has combined political mobilisation for ballot-box measures with participatory policy-making and planning processes to advance just, equitable, sustainable transit systems, and TOC. The concluding discussion considers the implications of the ACT-LA case for reformulating participatory policy-making and planning around transportation and land use to further equity and climate goals.

Many factors contribute to public rail transit use in an urban network. However, a dysfunctional relationship between the built environment and the transport system significantly deters such use. Architects, urban designers, town planners and policymakers must understand the factors that promote or deter pedestrian use of the urban environment.

The paper investigates four connectivity and walkability factors for three different metro stations in Doha, Qatar: Al Aziziyah, Hamad Hospital and West Bay. The analysis includes pedestrian sheds, block sizes, ground-level land uses and connectedness in the urban spatial network based on catchment contour maps using space syntax.

The results indicate the three metro stations and neighborhoods are representative of diverse type of neighborhoods in Doha: relatively compact but expansive for the Hamad Hospital Station area, metrically and topologically restrictive due to the poor planning and the peninsular location of the reclaimed land in the West Bay area, and expansive, shallow and reliant on attraction for the Al Waab transportation corridor associated with Al Aziziyah Station.

Time factors and temporary closure/capacity reductions due to the global pandemic restricted planned efforts to collect more pedestrian use data based on passive observations and preference choices using surveys during the study. Nonetheless, adapting the investigation to the circumstances produced significant findings.

The analysis can help us develop better guidelines and diagnostic tools to calibrate design and planning strategies promoting more walkable, healthy and sustainable neighborhoods.

The study is original due to examining stations of the new Doha Metro for the first time. However, it relies on well-established representational techniques in urban morphology and space syntax research.