Subway-city interface in China: Inter-urban comparative analysis of station-area integration

• First audit of pedestrian access at 1098 MRT stations in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen. • More Hong Kong exits integrate with buildings, scoring better on weather-proof, seamless, barrier-free pedestrian access; • Mainland exits open to outdoor public space shaping a peculiar pedestrian realm, and end-user experience. • Integration gap tied to differing operator ownerships, finance tools, land rules. • Design bodies to craft climate-sensitive, universally accessible station links. Hong Kong has long been a global benchmark for mass transit development. Nevertheless, the city’s urban development model, with rail as the backbone of public transport, underwent adaptation to fit different planning systems and regulatory frameworks when implemented overseas. Moreover, despite the growing body of studies focusing on station-area integration, no research has analysed pedestrian access to transit from an inter-urban, transit-system-wide comparative perspective. This study aims to fill such a research gap by focusing on Hong Kong and three mainland Chinese cities with well-developed Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) systems: Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen (N = 1098 stations). A novel multi-source database was compiled and analysed; the analysis included a comprehensive set of indicators related to the physical connections (N = 4772) between the mass transit pedestrian environment and the overground urban realm. Results demonstrate that the Pedestrian Access to Transit (PAT) development in mainland Chinese cities differs from that in Hong Kong, where stations are often integrated with buildings. Such diverse integration reflects differences in service provider ownership, financial instruments, and dissimilar land allocation systems. PAT in mainland Chinese cities is primarily connected to outdoor public open space, shaping a peculiar pedestrian realm and end-user experience. This study advocates for dedicated urban design institutions focusing on the station-area pedestrian integration potential to promote, conceive, and implement climate-sensitive, culturally responsive, and universally accessible intermodal pedestrian connections.