Keynote speech: Directions in Space Syntax. Space Syntax modelling of pedestrian flows for sustainable urban development

Modelling pedestrian flows has been one of the main directions of Space Syntax since its introduction,but what we see in the last years is that it has also become a central interdisciplinary objective withinthe Sustainable Development research agenda. The agenda calls for promotion of sustainable mobility(i.e. walking, cycling, public transport) and a clear shift from car-oriented development. There is anacknowledged need in the broader fields of urban development to model pedestrian flows: to explainand assess the functioning of existing built environments, to predict future situations and assistscenario analysis when planning new areas and infrastructural changes and support decision-making.The keynote argues that Space Syntax can claim expertise for this emerging interdisciplinary field ofstudy, having built a relevant and comprehensive theoretical and methodological framework andhaving provided sufficient and solid empirical evidence that it is an appropriate methodology to modelpedestrian flows. What is more, it is perfectly aligned with the main tenets of SustainableDevelopment. The keynote continues to lay out the opportunities created for Space Syntax research bythe Sustainable Development research agenda, but also the needs for further development. Usingrecent and current projects from the Spatial Morphology Group (SMoG) at Chalmers University ofTechnology, three research priorities are identified and exemplified further

A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF MULTIFUNCTIONAL STREETS_Final research report

A state-of-the-art, quantitative systematic review of scientific literature on the theme of multifunctional streets was conducted, including scientific papers of the last 10 years, filtered from Web of Science and Scopus. The review is part of a 3-year research project (2019-2021) named: “Smart streets” (Smarta gator) led by Alexander St\ue5hle (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) and financed by Vinnova (Swedish governmental agency for Innovation systems). The research project aims to develop a Street Multifunctionality Index (Gatufunktionsindex) to assess how existing and designed streets combine five different street functions - Social, Ecologic, Economic, Technical and Traffic - and also produce design guidelines for the design and planning of future multifunctional streets, either in new infrastructure or via retrofits. Within this project, the aim of the systematic review is twofold: first, to assess the degree in which the multifunctionality of streets is addressed in recent literature and provide an overview of the field by identifying where the general literature on the subject is trending, which are the recurrent issues studied, what themes are missing or being understudied; second, since an end product of the research project is to provide guidelines for urban design and planning practice, the review aims to identify the physical factors which have been empirically proven to support the different street functions, and especially those which support multiple functions. The second aim is pursued through focused thematic reviews, which complement the general overview of the field

A systematic review of the scientific literature on the theme of multifunctional streets

Cities consist of 20-30% streets, a gigantic infrastructure that must be maintained and\ua0developed. As such, they have the potential to contribute to tackling contemporary challenges as\ua0the increasing urbanization and climate change which place higher demands on urban\ua0environments, from quality of life, health and safety to environmental sustainability.\ua0Multifunctional streets are introduced as an answer to these challenges, as they can fulfil this\ua0multitude of functions. This paper presents a state-of-the-art, quantitative systematic review of\ua0scientific literature on the theme of multifunctional streets. Scientific papers were filtered from\ua0Web of Science and Scopus. Only scientific papers of the last 10 years were included. We will\ua0first present a survey of the field and then focus on the empirical papers that help us identify the\ua0physical factors which have been proven to support and improve the different functions of streets,\ua0from the social and ecologic to the economic and technical. The empirical studies represent 24%\ua0of the scientific papers selected, where the social function is the one most frequently studied,\ua0followed by the ecologic and the economic function. Within the social function the empirical\ua0papers in relation to health (39%) and safety (21%) dominate, followed by the ones studying\ua0liveability (9%). We will focus on empirical studies on the themes of Liveability and Safety, two\ua0important variables of the Social function, interrelating yet often conflicting

Urban Calculator

Major steps have in recent decades been taken when it comes to understanding how cities work. Essential is the change from understanding cities as locations to understanding them as flows (Batty 2013). In principle this means that we need to understand locations (or places) as defined by flows (or different forms of traffic), rather than locations only served by flows. This implies that we need to understand the built form and spatial structure of cities as a system, that by shaping flows creates a series of places with very specific relations to all other places in the city, which also give them very specific performative potentials. It also implies the rather fascinating notion that what happens in one place is dependent on its relation to all other places (Hillier 1996). Hence, to understand the individual place, we need a model of the city as a whole.Extensive research in this direction has taken place in recent years, that has also spilled over to urban design practice, not least in Sweden, where the idea that to understand the part you need to understand the whole is starting to be established. With the Urban Calculator that we present here, we take a important leap towards integrating this knowledge in the daily practice of urban designers and other professionals active in urban development. The objective of this project is to provide a user-friendly software that allows for effective knowledge transfer. The software will support the evaluation of different urban scenario’s as well as mirror these against a references database. The project is expected to impact decision making in urban development projects, especially during the initial phases

Simplified geodata models for integrated urban and public transport planning

The current division between urban and transport planning is a significant obstacle to achieving sustainable urban development. To transform cities towards sustainability, both fields must adopt shared or at least compatible models of the urban systems, namely transport, street and public space networks for all users and urban activities. Although several models and tools have emerged in recent years to facilitate this integration, there are still usability gaps that hinder their wider adoption. One of the gaps is a lack of flexibility to operate at different stages of integrated planning. To address this gap, the study aims to develop a set of aligned and flexible multimodal urban network models and tools to support different stages of planning. This paper focuses on the public transport geodata models, which were built by aggregating a General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) dataset at various spatial and temporal levels. The aggregation levels range from a baseline data model that is useful for detailed planning stages, up to a topological data model that is suitable for macro scale and strategic planning. By using this unified set of models, the dialogue between the two fields at different integrated planning phases can be facilitated, and decision-making can be enhanced

Empirical support for a theory of spatial capital: Housing prices in Oslo and land values in Gothenburg

Land is, besides labour and capital, one of the classic production factors in economic theory. However, neoclassical economics dominating the 20thcentury, simplified production theory to only labour and capital, treating land either as just another form of capital or as the natural resources it harbours. This hides the central role of land – in the meaning of spatial extension and location – for contemporary economies, where land rent is an essential cost and location a productive factor for most economic activities, not least since these increasingly are located in cities. Critical here is the confusion often found concerning property values and the distinction between land and improvements, the latter most often constituted by buildings, where buildings quite naturally can be treated as capital, while land cannot. Importantly, while property value can be increased by its owner through improvements, such as new buildings, she is very limited in influencing the land value, since this is a collective variable dependent on the economic development of the city as a whole. It is here proposed that improvements on land in contemporary urbanised economies to a dominant degree concern systems of centrality and accessibility generating relative locations, that are further enhanced by buildings and land division, and that this constitutes what is proposed to be called a spatial capital, which to a large degree is created through the practices of urban planning and design.In this paper we investigate the dependency of spatial form on land value. First, we review how spatial form and the configurations of accessibility it generates on land, influences housing prices to find support for the intimate relationship between relative location and monetary market values. Second, we investigate the dominance of land values compared to improvement values in four Swedish cities of different size Third, we investigate how known parameters of spatial form correlates with land values in Gothenburg, Sweden. We see close associations between spatial form and land values, both in shape of market housing prices and as property taxation values. Land value holds a larger share of total property taxation value in larger cities, suggesting that relative location is valued higher where economic activity is greater. Furthermore, we find clear correlations between spatial form and land taxation values. Altogether, these findings indicate that spatial capital encompasses monetary value. In extension, these findings also indicate how knowledge based and skilful urban planning and design can create measurable value

INTEGRATED URBAN ENVIRONMENT EFFECT ANALYSIS OF INFRASTRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATIONS

The report presents the method developed within the research project ‘Stadsmilj\uf6analys- Analys av t\ue4tbebyggda milj\uf6er i infrastrukturprojekt’, funded by Trafikverket (Swedish Transport Authority). This project sets up an integrated methodology for analysing and estimating the local impact of road and rail infrastructure projects in urban environments, either by way of new infrastructure or by way of retrofits, focusing on socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural-historical effects. While the focus is on national transport infrastructure investments, the method addresses local effects. This stems from the acknowledgement that each infrastructure investments results in a redistribution of accessibility where increasing accessibility on a regional and interurban scale might create encroachments on a local scale including the reduction of the usability of areas near to the infrastructure due to emissions and noise, risk of accidents, negative impacts on wildlife as well as barrier effects. It is these encroachments this method aims to highlight with the aim to reduce negative trade-offs of new or transformed transport infrastructure and recognize both local opportunities and sensitivities.\ua0In this project the direct effects of infrastructure projects in relation to the three perspectives (socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural-historical are described and measured in a precise manner through a series of spatial analyses. The cumulative, indirect, effects and broader consequences are also assessed, in relation to the sustainable development goals. The overall assessment methodology is based on a before-and-after analysis workflow, systematically comparing the existing situation (how it is, how it functions, how it affects people) to the future scenarios proposed by planning. The methodology is showcased using two infrastructural transformations projects in S\uf6derk\uf6ping and M\uf6lndal, Sweden, as case studies. \ua0\ua0The overarching goal of the research project is to contribute to an improved integration between infrastructure and local urban areas and communities in projects initiated and developed by the Swedish Transport Authority,\ua0Trafikverket. The presented methodology builds on the ILKA (Integrerad landskapskarakt\ue4rsanalys) method, currently used by the Swedish Transport Authority. While ILKA focuses mainly on the inventory of the current landscape on a regional scale, this project widens the scope to also address urban areas and to include, besides the ecological descriptions, also socio-economic and cultural-historical analysis that are currently less emphasized.\ua0Such an integrated method can improve the ability of the Swedish Transport Authority to develop projects that contribute to sustainable urban development and, furthermore, create a unified work procedure in the organization

Statistical modelling and analysis of big data on pedestrian movement

This work follows a long line of studies and empirical investigations in Space Syntax research, that, in general, try to conceptualise, describe and quantify the relation between physical space and human agency. How many people share public space is known to affect many socio-economic processes in cities, such as segregation, vitality and local commercial markets. Observing and measuring pedestrian movement through surveys, as well as statistically analysing it have been at the core of diverse investigations not least in the field of Space Syntax, not only a means to validate and measure the dependence of pedestrian movement on spatial configuration, but also as a means to forecast and predict pedestrian flows. However, these studies do not necessarily provide us with comparable, let alone generalisable findings that can lead to generalisable propositions. They remain in most cases specific investigations of particular cities, neighbourhoods or types of areas (e.g. city centres). Another issue, as will be elaborated in this paper, is that the typical statistical methods used, such as multivariate regression models, are not always the optimal or even suitable for modelling pedestrian movement, typically measured in pedestrian counts.\ua0This paper aims therefore, to directly address three methodological challenges: first, construction of comparable GIS-models; second, gathering large scale pedestrian data; third, applying advanced statistical modelling suitable for pedestrian data.The ultimate goal is to estimate the impact of spatial form on urban life in a way that is methodologically sound and can provide robust results that can be generalisable, and allows us to speak of the relation between spatial form and pedestrian movement in a way that is not specific to a certain area, or types of areas or streets, or even to a specific city. \ua0The results show, first, high and consistent correlations between spatial form and pedestrian movement in a study of unprecedented size that comprises three cities, including a large range of neighbourhoods of varying morphological types, from villa areas to urban cores, and offer convincing proof that the tested morphological variables have a strong impact on the spatial distribution of pedestrian flows in cities. Second, the study shows that the model with all explanatory variables has the highest explanatory power and the best model fit where Angular integration and Accessible FSI are the explanatory variables with the largest effect on pedestrian movement, but others are significantly contributing to the predictive power of the model. Third, the study contributes to the advancement of the statistical modelling that is suitable for the specificities of the data used, proposing the use of a negative Binomial model instead of regression models, most common in the field

Methodology and results of an international observational study on pedestrian movement tracking anonymised Wi-Fi signals from mobile phones

This paper presents the methodology and results of an international observational study on pedestrian movement, using innovative high-end technology of tracking anonymised Wi-Fi signals from mobile phones.\ua0The pedestrian survey was conducted during three weeks in October 2017 in 60 neighbourhoods across three cities in Europe - London, Amsterdam, Stockholm. The survey was led by Chalmers University in cooperation with Bumbee Labs consultancy firm.More than 300 streets of different network centrality profiles were monitored, ranging from small alleys to high streets, in neighbourhoods which differed in density type,from suburban villa areas of low density to central high-density areas with primarily closed building blocks.The aim is to quantify the separate and combined effects of spatial form, particularly built density and street centrality, on pedestrian movement.\ua0The collected data record how many people passed each street per hour, but also their average speed and exact paths through the area; revealing both flow patterns and intensities, and the microstructure of individual paths.The paper, first, presents the methodology and technology of collecting and processing anonymised pedestrian data through mobile phone Wi-Fi tracking and the results of the study. Then, results are tested against spatial variables and types to discuss how movement is influenced by street centrality, density and other attractors. Finally, the paper discusses the possible utilisations of pedestrian data in urban analysis and design, not least in a time when big data become increasingly accessible and when the boost of pedestrian mobility in cities is a central planning objective

INTEGRERAD STADSMILJ 6EFFEKTANALYS (ISMA) AV INFRASTRUKTURELLA F 6R\uc4NDRINGAR

The report (in Swedish) presents the method developed within the research project ‘Stadsmilj\uf6analys- Analys av t\ue4tbebyggda milj\uf6er i infrastrukturprojekt’, funded by Trafikverket (Swedish Transport Authority). This project sets up an integrated methodology for analysing and estimating the local impact of road and rail infrastructure projects in urban environments, either by way of new infrastructure or by way of retrofits, focusing on socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural-historical effects. While the focus is on national transport infrastructure investments, the method addresses local effects. This stems from the acknowledgement that each infrastructure investments results in a redistribution of accessibility where increasing accessibility on a regional and interurban scale might create encroachments on a local scale including the reduction of the usability of areas near to the infrastructure due to emissions and noise, risk of accidents, negative impacts on wildlife as well as barrier effects. It is these encroachments this method aims to highlight with the aim to reduce negative trade-offs of new or transformed transport infrastructure and recognize both local opportunities and sensitivities.\ua0In this project the direct effects of infrastructure projects in relation to the three perspectives (socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural-historical are described and measured in a precise manner through a series of spatial analyses. The cumulative, indirect, effects and broader consequences are also assessed, in relation to the sustainable development goals. The overall assessment methodology is based on a before-and-after analysis workflow, systematically comparing the existing situation (how it is, how it functions, how it affects people) to the future scenarios proposed by planning. The methodology is showcased using two infrastructural transformations projects in S\uf6derk\uf6ping and M\uf6lndal, Sweden, as case studies. \ua0\ua0The overarching goal of the research project is to contribute to an improved integration between infrastructure and local urban areas and communities in projects initiated and developed by the Swedish Transport Authority,\ua0Trafikverket. The presented methodology builds on the ILKA (Integrerad landskapskarakt\ue4rsanalys) method, currently used by the Swedish Transport Authority. While ILKA focuses mainly on the inventory of the current landscape on a regional scale, this project widens the scope to also address urban areas and to include, besides the ecological descriptions, also socio-economic and cultural-historical analysis that are currently less emphasized.\ua0Such an integrated method can improve the ability of the Swedish Transport Authority to develop projects that contribute to sustainable urban development and, furthermore, create a unified work procedure in the organization