Although a considerable number of underground pedestrian systems (UPS) have been developed in the world and are in operation, there remains a lack of research about the influencing factors of the urban environment within which UPS developments are situated, and documented knowledge of how to develop UPS so that they can contribute most effectively to urban economic, social and environmental development. Factors that influence the decision-making process for UPS development, including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT), remain largely unexplored. In this research, a SWOT analysis is used to develop a SWOT Matrix for UPS development, and the categories and parameters of the SWOT Matrix are determined and discussed. Moreover, based on the parameters that are determined to be important to UPS development, a discussion about the reasons why each individual factor is significant with relation to UPS development is presented. In addition, empirical evidence associated with the parameters from previous research is also provided to support the discussion. It provides significant guidance on how to determine whether an UPS development is needed and a basis for future research in this area.