Graphical approach to assess urban quality: mapping walkability based on the TOD-standard

Graphical expression through mapping can be an essential tool to conduct urban analysis, capable of expressing contextual spatial distribution and providing complementary information to numerical analysis. Although urban analytics are central for most issues in cities, mobility and transportation have traditionally been disciplines very tightly related with quantitative analysis. Mobility in urban areas has become a central issue due to its high impact in environmental, social and economic concerns. Multiple studies consider that walking presents social, health, economic and environmental benefits as a short distance transportation mode. As pedestrian displacements are characterized by presenting great adherence, the features of the environment where they are performed is key to guarantee their success and promote their use. To be able to design appropriate walking city conditions, it is necessary to undergo extensive analysis of existing urban areas and their walkability impact. In order to illustrate this, this study takes as a basis the Transit Orientated Development Standard (TOD Standard), a scoring instrument defined by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), to evaluate the area of Saint-Lazare multimodal station in Paris. The aim of this work is to compare its quantitative and graphical results through georeferenced mapping and TOD Standard score based numerical data, in order to identify the complementary information provided by the mapping. The conclusions display the importance of using graphical analysis to be able to spot singular spatial distributions and influencing relations within the urban environment, often imperceptible in numerical values.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Evaluación comparativa del nivel de Desarrollo Orientado al Transporte (dot) en torno a nodos de transporte de grandes ciudades: métodos complementarios de ayuda a la decisión

El Desarrollo Orientado al Transporte (dot) es un enfoque de la planificación que promueve el desarrollo sostenible de un área urbana. Evaluar el nivel dot resulta interesante para determinar la idoneidad de los desarrollos urbanos al respecto, así como su potencial de mejora. El objeto del trabajo consiste en evaluar el nivel dot de importantes áreas urbanas mediante dos métodos diferentes: índice global y análisis multivariable mediante redes neuronales artificiales. Los métodos se contrastan entre sí, clarificando sus límites y grado de complementariedad. Adicionalmente, los resultados se verifican mediante el análisis espacial sig de un caso concreto. Según resultados: la evaluación mediante índice es limitada; el análisis multivariable determina perfiles de áreas semejantes, independientemente de sus índices globales; el análisis espacial pormenoriza los valores medios obtenidos. Estos métodos aportan conocimiento en sus respectivos campos. Si se usan complementariamente entre sí, mejoran su efectividad como herramientas de análisis útiles en planificación.Transit Oriented Development (tod) is a planning approach that promotes sustainable development of an urban area. Assessing the levels of tod may allow determining the appropriateness of urban development in this regard, as well as its potential for improvement. The purpose of this work is to assess the levels of tod using two different methods: Global Index and Multivariate Analysis based on Artificial Neural Networks. The methods contrast each other, clarifying both their limits and complementarity degree. Additionally, the results are verified through gis spatial analysis applied on a case study. According to the results, the Global Index Assessment is limited; the multivariable analysis shows profiles of similar urban areas, regardless of their global indexes; the spatial analysis details the average values obtained. These methods provide knowledge in their respective fields. If used in a complementary way, they improve their effectiveness as useful analysis tool for urban plannin

Graphical approach to assess urban quality: mapping walkability based on the TOD-standard

Graphical expression through mapping can be an essential tool to conduct urban analysis, capable of expressing contextual spatial distribution and providing complementary information to numerical analysis. Although urban analytics are central for most issues in cities, mobility and transportation have traditionally been disciplines very tightly related with quantitative analysis. Mobility in urban areas has become a central issue due to its high impact in environmental, social and economic concerns. Multiple studies consider that walking presents social, health, economic and environmental benefits as a short distance transportation mode. As pedestrian displacements are characterized by presenting great adherence, the features of the environment where they are performed is key to guarantee their success and promote their use. To be able to design appropriate walking city conditions, it is necessary to undergo extensive analysis of existing urban areas and their walkability impact. In order to illustrate this, this study takes as a basis the Transit Orientated Development Standard (TOD Standard), a scoring instrument defined by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), to evaluate the area of Saint-Lazare multimodal station in Paris. The aim of this work is to compare its quantitative and graphical results through georeferenced mapping and TOD Standard score based numerical data, in order to identify the complementary information provided by the mapping. The conclusions display the importance of using graphical analysis to be able to spot singular spatial distributions and influencing relations within the urban environment, often imperceptible in numerical values.Peer Reviewe