The self-aware city

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2006.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-126).This thesis explores the idea of real-time urban space management. While increasing amounts of real-time information about the city, specifically the location of people and resources, appear, it becomes necessary to explore how different strategies of distributing real-time location information can be used as urban design tools for a more sustainable resource allocation. I focus on the study of street-parking, a system that clearly has a market situation with demand and supply, but due to lack of information is poorly managed today. I argue that an equilibrium state of the parking market in popular areas, similar to many other urban space markets, is a frequent over demand. The important challenges are therefore allocation optimization and queuing management. I propose five different strategies of using real-time location information to reduce search times and analyze the system through computer simulations and logic. Borrowing ideas from Game Theory, I try to illustrate how collaborative behavior between drivers could yield most efficient results from both the individual and the group point of view. Lastly, I outline some challenges that the use of real-time information systems introduce to the realm of urban design in general.by Andres Sevtsuk.S.M

Hot and bothered: Exploring the effect of heat on pedestrian route choice behavior and accessibility

Although many cities are incentivizing non-auto modes of transportation in response to the climate crisis, their sustainable mobility transition efforts are being challenged by the rising intensity and frequency of heatwaves. Pedestrians are exposed to high levels of heat stress on hot days, which may reduce their willingness to walk. It is thus important to understand how heat affects pedestrian behavior and accessibility, so that climate mitigation strategies can be better targeted to support walking as a mode of transport but also as a first-/last-mile connection to public transit. In this study, we used a dataset of pedestrian trips undertaken during the summer of 2014 in Boston, MA. Along with several route attributes (such as length, turns, sidewalk width, amenities, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, and Sky View Factor), we also included a measure of heat stress (Universal Thermal Climate Index - UTCI) to explain pedestrian route choice behavior. Using path-size logistic regression models, we found evidence to suggest that heat stress has a considerable and statistically significant effect on the perceived walking distance. We also found that the effect was non-uniform and possibly exponential. Additionally, we illustrated the extent to which heat stress can reduce pedestrian accessibility to important destinations (such as public transit). This reduction was significant on a typical summer day, with an even sharper reduction on the hottest summer day. Non-White residents were observed to have lower accessibility levels compared to all pedestrians, likely because of disparities in urban heat exposure. Our findings highlight the importance of incorporating heat exposure into transportation planning and urban design frameworks, especially with an equity lens to address unequal consequences

Study of urban geometry and retail activity in Cambridge and Somerville, MA

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, September 2010.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections."August 11, 2010." Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 195-208).This dissertation investigates retail location patterns in urban settings -- a domain that has received relatively little attention in recent decades. We analyze which land use, urban form, and agglomeration factors explain observed retail patterns in an empirical case study of Cambridge and Somerville, MA. We are particularly interested in whether and how the distribution of retailers is affected by the spatial configuration of the built environment -- the physical pattern of urban infrastructure, the spacing and sizes of buildings, and the geometry of circulation routes. We argue that understanding retail location patterns in urban settings is not only important for improving retail location theory, but also essential for designing economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable urban neighborhoods. The dissertation proposes a novel graph-analysis framework in which retail location patterns can be represented under realistic constraints of urban geometry, land use distribution, and travel behavior. A series of spatial accessibility metrics, which we hypothesize to affect retail location choices, are introduced and applied in this framework using individual buildings as units of analysis. In order to test the statistical significance of these different metrics on retail location choices, we adopt the strategic interaction methodology from spatial econometrics and apply it for the first time in the context of location studies. We specify a linear probability model with a binary dependent variable and estimate how buildings' probabilities to accommodate retail establishments relate endogenously to other retailers' location choices and exogenously to both land use and urban form characteristics around each building. We apply the model to all retail and food-service establishments as a group and to different three-digit NAICS establishment categories individually. The results confirm that retail location choices in our study area are significantly related to both other retailers' endogenous location choices and exogenous land use characteristics around each building. However, controlling for both of these factors, we find that the spatial distribution of retail activity is also significantly related to the geometry of the built environment. By setting constraints on accessibility, visibility, adjacency, and density, the geometry of the built environment produces a rich landscape of information that appears to guide opportunities for business from building to building. The findings inform economists and planners about factors that attract retailers in urban settings, and urban designers about how the seemingly basic act of laying out streets, parcels and buildings can affect the location choices retail and service land uses, thereby shaping the economic structure of the city in important ways.by Andres Sevtsuk.Ph.D

Groups and frequent visitors shaping the space dynamics

Our research is about a dynamic symbolic space model that is fed with data from the environment by a set of processing modules that receive raw data from sensor networks. For the conducted experiments we have been using data from a WiFi network as it is a widely available infrastructure in our campus. Here we propose two processing modules which will provide more information about the spaces described in the model. The first one tries to implement our human perception of the usual visitors of a place using two measures, the long term and the short term tenant level. The second one detects where groups of users emerge, how many there are and what are their dimensions. Based on this new perspective of the campus we intend to realize how the presence of people shapes the dynamics of a space.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

The impact of street properties on cognitive maps

This paper investigates the relationship between street properties and cognitive maps. It is focused on the question of how human cognition of the built environment is affected by street properties. Building on the foundations of Kevin Lynch's studies of environmental perception (Lynch 1960) and recent configuration measurement techniques of the built environment, it addresses an important question that Lynch has left unresolved: Why do people have more complete recollections of some parts of the urban environment, and not others? This paper proposes an analytical measurement framework based on graph theory to compare the results of cognitive maps with objective spatial properties of the corresponding built environment. In order to test our hypothesis, street geometry is measured and defined based on graph theory in two selected areas with similar geometries in Kenmore, Boston and Kendall Sq., Cambridge, MA. Cognitive maps are then collected based on specifically designed map drawing surveys. Finally, the relationship between graph results and cognitive maps is examined in order to identify the ways that street properties affect human perception

A sidewalk-level urban heat risk assessment framework using pedestrian mobility and urban microclimate modeling

Climate change and the associated increase in heat-related hazards pose a pressing threat to urban residents' health and well-being. People, when walking in particular, are at risk of experiencing heat stress as they navigate urban environments. This study proposes a novel heat risk assessment framework combining pedestrian mobility modeling with urban microclimate modeling. Using this framework, we assessed pedestrian heat-related exposure and risk in urban areas by integrating the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) as the hazard and pedestrian trips to critical destinations as exposure. We considered temporal variation, in both hazard and exposure, by examining different time periods during the day-morning peak, midday, and evening peak. In addition to hazard and exposure, we also considered vulnerability by focusing on young children and older adults. We contribute to improving the spatial resolution of heat risk assessment by analyzing the hazard for pedestrian trips between home locations and five critical destinations-bus stops, rail stations, parks, schools, and commercial amenities-at the address-point level and using a pedestrian network comprising sidewalks and crosswalks. Our framework helps identify sidewalks with high heat exposure levels as well as home locations with high cumulative heat risk, accounting for walking trips to critical destinations along feasible routes. We demonstrated the effectiveness of this framework by applying it to a 36-square-kilometer area of central Los Angeles, CA. Our findings offer valuable information to urban planners and policy-makers, supporting evidence-based prioritization of intervention sites, climate adaptation strategies, and policy decisions essential for climate-proof planning. By implementing targeted interventions in areas where heat hazard is expected to affect the most vulnerable pedestrians, planners can create heat-resilient, pedestrian-friendly environments while prioritizing the health and well-being of vulnerable groups. This study contributes to the growing knowledge of robust risk assessment methodologies for climate-proof planning, specifically with regard to addressing outdoor heat-related risks during extreme heat events

A Centrality Measure for Urban Networks Based on the Eigenvector Centrality Concept.

A massive amount of information as geo-referenced data is now emerging from the digitization of contemporary cities. Urban streets networks are characterized by a fairly uniform degree distribution and a low degree range. Therefore, the analysis of the graph constructed from the topology of the urban layout does not provide significant information when studying topology–based centrality. On the other hand, we have collected geo-located data about the use of various buildings and facilities within the city. This does provide a rich source of information about the importance of various areas. Despite this, we still need to consider the influence of topology, as this determines the interaction between different areas. In this paper, we propose a new model of centrality for urban networks based on the concept of Eigenvector Centrality for urban street networks which incorporates information from both topology and data residing on the nodes. So, the centrality proposed is able to measure the influence of two factors, the topology of the network and the geo-referenced data extracted from the network and associated to the nodes. We detail how to compute the centrality measure and provide the rational behind it. Some numerical examples with small networks are performed to analyse the characteristics of the model. Finally, a detailed example of a real urban street network is discussed, taking a real set of data obtained from a fieldwork, regarding the commercial activity developed in the city

Urban network analysis training in Rhinoceros3D : Barcelona, 11-13 July 2022

"ETSAB, DUOT, LUB" -- Portada"Course instructor: Andres Sevtsuk (associate professor of urban science and planning at MIT, Director of the City Form Lab)" -- Coberta"ETSAB summer masterclass" -- CobertaDescripció del recurs: 20 setembre 2023Conté: Foreword: Walking the streets: an approach to urban proximity through the analysis of pedestrian networks / Eulàlia Gómez-Escoda -- Presentation: Urban Network Analysis tools for modeling land use and transportation interactions for pedestrians and cyclists / Andres Sevtsuk -- Barcelona’s Superblocks under the spotlight: evaluating expected impact of green axes in pedestrian route choice and retail footfall / Mikel Berra-Sandín and Enric Villavieja Martínez -- The walking routes of the children of La Vila de Gràcia / André Salazar and Ricardo Sotomayor -- Walking the hills. Analysis of the walkable network around existing and planned L9 metro stations in upper Gràcia, Barcelona / Álvaro Clua, Francesc Valls and Joan Martí Elia

Exploring how socioeconomic status affects neighbourhood environments? : effects on obesity risks : a longitudinal study in Singapore

Research on how socioeconomic status interacts with neighbourhood characteristics to influence disparities in obesity outcomes is currently limited by residential segregation-induced structural confounding, a lack of empirical studies outside the U.S. and other 'Western' contexts, and an over-reliance on cross-sectional analyses. This study addresses these challenges by examining how socioeconomic status modifies the effect of accumulated exposures to obesogenic neighbourhood environments on children and mothers' BMI, drawing from a longitudinal mother-child birth cohort study in Singapore, an Asian city-state with relatively little residential segregation. We find that increased access to park connectors was associated with a decrease in BMI outcomes for mothers with higher socioeconomic status, but an increase for those with lower socioeconomic status. We also find that increased access to bus stops was associated with an increase in BMIz of children with lower socioeconomic status, but with a decrease in BMIz of children with higher socioeconomic status, while increased access to rail stations was associated with a decrease in BMIz of children with lower socioeconomic status only. Our results suggest that urban interventions might have heterogeneous effects by socioeconomic status.Peer reviewe