China is facing the dual challenges of urbanization and motorization（Jing, 2008）. The poorly organized urban centers and traditional residential planning are unable to meet the increasingly diverse demand of people. To solve these problems, the TOD model and the emerging community living circle are being favored by policy makers. Promoting urban construction based on the land development model of large-capacity rail transit station becomes a common understanding in many cities (Xuewu & Meng, 2018). However, faced with chaotic urban layout, mixed functions, and complicated land use, the new modes of transportation (rail) and the built-up areas (communities) create incompatibility. The issue of coordinated development of rail stations and communities is receiving increasing attention. Simultaneously, the uneven distribution of public facilities prompts the community living circle to emerge as a means of planning innovation. However, the theoretical division of the station influencing realm and community living circle is not applicable to mountain cities. In the context of complex mountain terrain, the way in which the two describe the space with a fixed distance as the radius is inconsistent with actual experience of people. So, this paper redefines the station influencing realm and community living circle, and delimits the radiation range of the two with the walking time of 15 minutes. Moreover, the connection area affected by both can reflect the spatial coupling and accessibility of the two spaces. At the same time, the connection area has low coupling degree and poor space quality in the mountain city. Therefore, the design strategy for the connection space of mountain cities needs to be updated and optimized. This paper will review the literature on TOD models and their associated station influencing realm and link them to residential district planning and start-up concept of community living circle to better explore their dynamic relationships and build a set of operational models and assessment systems, achieving a balance between transportation, high density and high-quality space experience.