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The Pace of Life - Reanalysed: Why Does Walking Speed of Pedestrians Correlate With City Size?

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  • Independent Researcher

Abstract

In a much quoted study, BORNSTEIN & BORNSTEIN (1976) showed that the walking speed of pedestrians is positively correlated with the size of the city. They interpreted the higher walking speed of people in larger cities as a psychological response to stimulatory overload. We also found a positive correlation between walking speed and city size. In addition, we showed that - at least in our sample - larger cities had higher proportions of young males and lower proportions of people older than 60 years. Walking speed and momentary density did not correlate positively. Because walking speed is age- and sex-dependent (Fig. 2), differences in population structure are likely to cause differences in average walking speed. The average walking speed predicted for each city according to its age- and sex-composition correlated positively with city size. The regressions of observed walking speed on population size and of walking speed predicted from age structure on population size did no differ significantly in their slopes (p > 0.95). It therefore seems unnecessary to invoke other factors in addition to age composition to explain differences in average walking speeds of pedestrians.
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An agent-based model (ABM) for simulating flood-pedestrian interaction is augmented to particularly explore more realistic responses of evacuating pedestrians during flooding. Pedestrian agents within the ABM follow navigation rules of governing their movement in dry areas. When in floodwater, pedestrian agents are assigned extra behavioural rules to factor in their states of stability and walking speed, and their different body height and weight. The ABM is applied to replicate a synthetic test case of a flooded shopping centre, considering increasingly sophisticated configuration modes for the behavioural rules of the evacuating pedestrians. Simulation results are analysed based on spatial and temporal indicators informing on the dynamic variations of flood risk states of flooded pedestrians in terms of a commonly used flood Hazard Rating (HR) metric, variable walking speed, and instability due to toppling and/or sliding. Our analysis reveal significantly prolonged evacuation times and risk exposure levels as stability and walking speed behavioural rules become more sophisticated. It also allows to identify more conservative HR thresholds due to unstable pedestrians, and a new formula to directly estimate walking speed states as function of HR for stable pedestrian in floodwater. Accompanying details for software accessibility are provided.
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Chapter
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Thesis
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EN (PL below): The aim of this thesis was to investigate the correlation between the detailed pedestrian path configuration, land use characteristics and the pedestrian movement patterns in the historically and spatially diverse urban grid of Bydgoskie Przedmieście and Bielany in Toruń. Open-source geospatial processing software QGIS was used to model the detailed pedestrian network covering both formal and informal paths and to analyse the spatial and functional characteristics of all network elements. The attributes independent from network configuration were measured as the sum of topological and functional weights given to the elements within a direct buffer of each network segment. The configurational characteristics in which the real length of pedestrian routes was considered, were analysed using sDNA – a spatial network analysis plugin developed at Cardiff University. The weighted network analysis was conducted using topological weights, such as segment length and a new weight proposed by the author referring to the length of perceived space boundary. Additionally, functional weights derived from buildings were used – total floor area and retail area. Several routing methods were tested and a hybrid between Euclidean and angular routing was selected as the best match for modelling the measured pedestrian traffic, defined by sDNA creators as ‘pedestrian’ routing. This research proves the lack of statistically significant relation between the pedestrian traffic and spatial and land use characteristics measured as the crow flies and a strong correlation between the pedestrian counts and path betweenness centrality – a measure of strategic positioning of each network segment depending on the number of geodesic paths that pass through the segment. It was revealed that the value best fit for sole modelling pedestrian movement patterns is betweenness centrality weighted using the proposed space boundary length. It was concluded that the betweenness value can be interpreted as pedestrian potential of movement on a given segment in a pedestrian network and that the hybrid between Euclidean and angular routing matches the common tendency of pedestrians to select routes that are not only the shortest, but also the most simple in terms of angular changes. A metric based on network configuration and land use characteristic was recommended to use for accessibility assessment, enabling a quantitative analysis of selected spatial and functional characteristics within a considered walking distance of each network segment. As a practical example of methodology application, the author proposed several changes to the pedestrian network of Bydgoskie Przedmieście and Bielany and analysed their impact on pedestrian movement patterns and accessibility. It was recommended that the presented tools were used in spatial planning units as evidence-based support for planning decisions regarding new walkways, optimal location selection for links between interrupted axes or to evaluate the impact of new investments on spatial accessibility and pedestrian movement patterns. The presented tools can also serve as support in area regeneration programs, enabling conscious rechannelling of main footfalls, which can also prove beneficial to investors and business-owners interested in increasing the number of customers. PL: W niniejszej pracy magisterskiej podjęto tematykę zależności pomiędzy przestrzennym rozkładem ruchu pieszych a strukturą przestrzenno-funkcjonalną sieci dróg pieszych na różnorodnym pod względem układu urbanistycznego obszarze Bydgoskiego Przedmieścia i Bielan w Toruniu. Za pomocą programu QGIS służącego do przetwarzania danych geograficznych, wymodelowano sieć dróg pieszych formalnych i nieformalnych oraz zbadano cechy przestrzenno-funkcjonalne wszystkich elementów sieci. Właściwości niezależne od konfiguracji sieci dróg mierzono jako sumę wybranych wartości topologicznych i funkcjonalnych przypisanych elementom znajdującym się w badanej prostoliniowej odległości od każdego punktu tego odcinka. Cechy zależne od konfiguracji, czyli te uwzględniające rzeczywistą długość trasy pieszej, zostały obliczone za pomocą opracowanego przez Cardiff University narzędzia sDNA służącego do przestrzennej analizy sieci. Do badania struktury przestrzenno-funkcjonalnej jako wagi wykorzystano dane topologiczne takie jak długość elementów sieci oraz zaproponowana przez autorkę długość granicy przestrzeni, a także wagi funkcjonalne jak powierzchnie całkowite budynków oraz powierzchnie handlowo-usługowe. Przetestowano różne metody wyznaczania najkorzystniejszych tras i wybrano mającą najlepsze dopasowanie z pomiarami metodę trasowania hybrydowego, zawierającą w sobie elementy trasowania metrycznego oraz kierunkowego., a przez twórców sDNA nazwana trasowaniem pieszym. Wykazano brak statystycznie istotnej zależności pomiędzy ruchem pieszym a zbadanymi cechami niesieciowymi oraz silną relację pomiędzy zmierzonymi natężeniami ruchu pieszego a obliczoną miarą pośrednictwa dróg pieszych, będącego miarą położenia odcinka względem najkorzystniejszych tras pomiędzy wszystkimi innymi odcinkami dróg w sieci przestrzennej. Najlepsze dopasowanie modelu opisującego natężenie ruchu pieszego otrzymano dla hybrydowego pośrednictwa ważonego długością granicy przestrzeni. Zauważono, że miara pośrednictwa może być interpretowana jako potencjał ruchu pieszego na danym odcinku sieci dróg pieszych, a pośrednictwo hybrydowe uwzględnia powszechne dążenie pieszych do wybierania tras nie tylko metrycznie najkrótszych, ale też najprostszych w rozumieniu zmian kierunku. Zaproponowano miarę określającą dostępność przestrzenną bazującą na strukturze przestrzenno-funkcjonalnej, pozwalającej na analizę ilościową wybranych cech przestrzennych lub funkcjonalnych znajdujących się w wybranej rzeczywistej odległości od każdego z odcinków badanej sieci. Pokazano przykład stosowania opisanej metodologii do analizy oddziaływania zaproponowanych zmian w układzie dróg pieszych Bydgoskiego Przedmieścia i Bielan na przestrzenny rozkład ruchu pieszego oraz dostępność przestrzenną. Opisywane narzędzie zaleca się stosować w jednostkach samorządowych w celu naukowego wsparcia decyzji o wyznaczaniu nowych ciągów pieszych, wybierania optymalnych lokalizacji dla łączników ciągów przerwanych, a także oceny wpływu planowanych inwestycji na dostępność przestrzenną i zmian w przestrzennym rozkładzie ruchu pieszego. Przedstawiony typ analizy może też być pomocny w programach rewitalizacji umożliwiając świadome zmienianie potencjału ruchu pieszego, co może być również korzystne dla inwestorów i przedsiębiorców zainteresowanych zwiększaniem liczby potencjalnych klientów.
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