pre-sbd base - transit overlays

lrt station area evaluation

a 2013 graduate planning study using zoning overlays, nonconforming uses, infill patterns, and public infrastructure gaps to test why light rail alone was not enough to produce transit-oriented development.

contextual case study - 2013

Portfolio page showing LRT station area zoning overlay and nonconforming-use analysis
lrt station area evaluation

sbd relevance

this study is an early version of the field logic behind sphere-based design: transit is not treated as a point feature, but as a layered condition of zoning, parcel readiness, pedestrian rules, investment timing, and public infrastructure. the later radial and tower-town work inherits this habit of reading development potential as overlapping systems rather than a single station buffer.

planning lesson

the core finding was that light rail access alone was a weak development trigger where station areas lacked public realm investment and parcel transformation logic. for sbd, that becomes a rule of thumb: mobility geometry needs civic and spatial structure around it before it can become an urban form.