Pedestrian mobility : mapping circulation conditions for people with mobility c...

• Author(s): Rodrigues, Daniel Souto ; Neiva, Carolina ; Ramos, Rui A. R.
• Date: 2011
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/16673
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Urban planning; Planning support systems; Pedestrian mobility; Circulation map
• Document Type: Conference Object
• Language: English

Description

Nowadays, pedestrian mobility is regarded as a key issue to urban planners since several studies have pointed it as an influential factor to the quality of life in central city areas. Consequently, walking conditions must be evaluated and some measures should be taken whenever the results show inappropriate implementations. This concern increases when focusing on the movement of people with mobility constraints, because for them a physical obstacle can represent an insurmountable obstruction. The goal of the present work is to analyze factors that limit the circulation of people with mobility constraints and to map those conditions in central urban areas. Taking into account only the physical characteristics of urban spaces, the assessment is performed in agreement with the standards specified in the Portuguese Law, defined by Decree-Law Nr 163/2006, in short DL 163/2006. The first part of the work introduces a multi-criteria model developed to evaluate the compliance of urban spaces with those standards. This model defines the normalization of measured values for each considered criterion, as well as their aggregation to achieve an index that expresses the compliance level of the evaluated urban spaces. The integration of the model within a GIS platform was performed in order to implement a spatial analysis of the results. The second part shows and discusses the results of a case study in a central area of the city of Braga, Portugal. The chosen area allows for the analysis of sidewalks and crosswalks of streets as a continuous network. Some sidewalk segments constructed before the approval of this law were also included allowing a comparative analysis with new (or improved) segments. The map of results highlights the sidewalk segments with worst performance, reflecting lower index values. This map is very helpful to city managers when identifying critical areas that require an intervention in order to improve the mobility of those pedestrians. Moreover, the proposed model can be easily adapted for other cities and countries.