Investment in rapid transit infrastructure brings spatial changes in cities. Urban land uses compete to occupy precious, accessible locations around metro stations. This study explores the land use characteristics and spatial distribution of private development within a 500 m walking catchment of metro stations of Hong Kong between 1981 and 2017. It concludes that, while metro station continued to be a magnet to commercial-office development, especially within and near traditional CBD districts, they have gradually spread to the outer industrial districts. Housing uses were being pushed and pulled out of the urban core. Proximity to a metro station has a strong, positive impact on both Business and Hospitality Land Uses, relative to housing and industrial development. Planning policies have played a strong role in influencing the land use selection of private developers on land within the station catchment areas, leading to a high inter-station differentiation of land use mixes. Relaxation of government regulations, coupled with market circumstances, caused a recent wave of new development of hotels and serviced apartments which out-competed commercial-offices in occupying prime locations near stations.