Construction of the Node—place—Jobs-housing model: Analysis of employment-residential ratio in subway station areas of Shenzhen, China’s highest construction density zone

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is widely recognized as a land development mode designed to integrate residential and employment spaces, fostering a balanced distribution of jobs and housing while reducing reliance on motorized transportation. Nonetheless, some scholars argue that small-scale TOD station areas should relax their self-sufficiency and jobs-housing balance requirements, creating a conceptual contradiction. To date, no clear consensus exists on how the employment-residential ratio relates to factors such as transportation supply, land use patterns, and the degree of TOD development, often referred to as TODness. Addressing this gap, this study examines subway station areas within the highest-density construction zone of Shenzhen, China, and extends the well-established node-place (NP) framework into a three-dimensional NP-jobs-housing (NPJ) model. The employment-residential ratio exhibits a positive linear relationship with public transportation supply, land development intensity, and development density. Conversely, it shows a negative linear relationship with the diversity of land construction and development. The TODness of station areas has a U-shaped effect on the employment-residential ratio, with a threshold value of 0.775 marking the inflection point. Incorporating the employment-residential ratio into the analysis enables classification of TOD station areas into four types, with significant jobs-housing imbalances observed only in areas with either low (Place value mean ≤ 0.146) or high (Place value mean ≥ 0.771) land development intensity. Prioritizing residential land development, followed by commercial and office space construction in later stages, better aligns with TOD principles. In the later stages of development, the employment-residential ratio tends toward employment dominance; however, increasing diversity of development emerges as an effective strategy to counteract imbalance. Overall, this research advances understanding of jobs-housing distribution within the TOD framework and provides insights for guiding land use planning and development adjustments based on station typology and TOD maturity.