Abstract
Most of the current station plazas are now left behind as spaces for road traffic in order to deal with increasing traffic demands especially in suburban areas. This paper aims to examine a methodology for the improvement of the spatial design of station plazas that can restore the inherent functions of plazas, open spaces for conviviality and sociability. Firstly, the method to determine an appropriate environmental space rate for station plazas was developed in order to strike a balance between road space for traffic and environmental space for people. Based on this consideration, the necessity to set up a new additional standard for station plaza planning was addressed. Secondly, the paper developed a system of indicators to assess social usability that enables us to identify problematic station plazas among existing ones. Finally, design principles for the improvement of station plazas with higher usability were proposed
