Interpreting the configuration of micro-urban environments: Line-based Analyses vs. Visibility Graph Analyses for estimating pedestrian flows

Mara, Federico, Hacar, Özge Öztürk, Gülgen, Fatih and Altafini, Diego ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6559-2372 2024. Interpreting the configuration of micro-urban environments: Line-based Analyses vs. Visibility Graph Analyses for estimating pedestrian flows. Presented at: 14th Space Syntax Symposium, Nicosia, Cyprus, 24-28 June 2024.

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Abstract

The existence of strong correlations between pedestrian flows and Space Syntax metrics, whether in form of Axial Analysis (AA), Angular Segment Analysis (ASA), or Visibility Graph Analysis (VGA), has been extensively discussed. While AA and ASA tend to perform these estimations well, at both architectural and urban scales, critical aspects emerge in the VGA, especially when applied to micro-urban scales. Those can be summarized in the grids’ non-randomness and their spacing, the impact of variations in altitude and the heavy computational workloads required to model visual fields’ relationships in larger areas. Still, VGA is a valuable resource to micro-urban analyses, as it depicts details within areas characterized by wide open spaces or higher morphological complexity that are beyond line-based models’ capabilities, potentially enabling more precise insights into local movement logics. Considering this, the paper proposes an initial methodological discussion on the methods for estimating pedestrian flows at micro-urban scales, comparing different environment extensions, techniques, metrics, and extraction methods. Tests are performed within a 10.000m2 historical district at Pisa, Italy, which aligns with the spatial and morphological characteristics deemed suitable to VGA. Using spatial statistics, measures associated to pedestrian flows are correlated to observed pedestrian traffic passing through 10 gates in a span of three days to highlight what measure gives a better response. This research encourages the exploration of VGA within micro-urban contexts and can be useful to enable a finer-grained comprehension of social logics in space, as many VGA measures seem to be suitable to comprehend pedestrian flows hierarchies.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Date Type:	Submission
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Architecture
Funders:	This project has received funding from the United Kingdom Research and Innovation Post Doctoral Fellowship Guarantee Scheme, set over the European Union’s Horizon Europe – Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions Post Doctoral Fellowships. UKRI Grant no. 101107846-
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	8 May 2024
Last Modified:	31 Aug 2024 01:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/168772

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