Transit-Oriented Development Without Displacement: Comparing Equity Outcomes Around Rail Stations

Maulsri Jha

Transit-Oriented Development Without Displacement: Comparing Equity Outcomes Around Rail Stations

Author(s)	Maulsri Jha
Country	United States
Abstract	Transit-oriented development is widely promoted as a strategy for reducing automobile dependence, increasing transit ridership, and concentrating housing and employment near high-capacity rail. Yet the accessibility benefits created by rail investment can be capitalized into land prices and rents, exposing low-income residents, renters, informal occupants, and small businesses to displacement or exclusion. This article develops an Equitable Station-Area Development framework and applies it to comparative case studies in Delhi, Seattle, Washington, DC, and Vienna. The cases represent contrasting combinations of land tenure, housing systems, transit governance, public land ownership, and anti-displacement capacity. Delhi demonstrates the challenge of applying density-led transit-oriented development in a city characterized by informality, fragmented authority, and uneven tenure security. Seattle's Rainier Valley shows how rail investment can intersect with racialized housing-market pressure, while subsequent equitable-development programs and public-land requirements illustrate a more preventive approach. Washington, DC, demonstrates the possibilities and limits of joint development, inclusionary zoning, and affordable-housing preservation in a strong rail-accessibility market. Vienna, particularly Aspern Seestadt, shows how extensive social housing, public land policy, and transit-first sequencing can embed affordability more deeply in urban development, although access rules and greenfield conditions limit direct transferability. The comparison finds that equitable outcomes depend less on density alone than on the timing, scale, durability, and governance of housing and community protections. The article proposes performance measures covering residential stability, affordable-housing production and preservation, commercial and cultural continuity, accessibility, public value capture, participation, and distributional outcomes. It concludes that transit-oriented development can avoid displacement only when anti-displacement policy precedes market escalation and treats existing residents as intended beneficiaries of accessibility investment.
Keywords	transit-oriented development; displacement; housing equity; rail stations; affordable housing; land value; accessibility.
Published In	Volume 17, Issue 3, July-September 2026
Published On	2026-09-04

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International Journal on Science and Technology

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Transit-Oriented Development Without Displacement: Comparing Equity Outcomes Around Rail Stations

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