scholarly journals Microscale Walkability Modelling. The Case of Athens City Centre

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 413-426
Author(s):  
Alexandros Bartzokas-Tsiompras ◽  
Yorgos N. Photis
Keyword(s):  
Regression Model ◽  
Urban Form ◽  
Urban Policy ◽  
Multiple Linear Regression Model ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Level Data ◽  
And Function

To date, several macro-level walkability measures have been proposed, but microscale and audit-based walkability approaches prove to be highly effective to support realistic, quick and cheap mechanisms for pedestrian-friendly environments. Yet, walkability audits are time- and cost-intensive solutions, because they require several streetscape observations. This study aims to investigate whether a multiple linear regression model of urban form- and function-related variables can effectively predict an audit-based average walkability indicator. For this purpose, we use a virtual, brief and reliable audit tool (MAPS-Mini) in Athens city centre in order to collect street-level data and in turn to construct a microscale walkability indicator (dependent variable). Moreover, our approach suggests a flexible statistical model of open-source data, with six exploratory variables of the macro-level built environment: angular integration, population density, transit stop density, pedestrian street density, retail and entertainment activity density, and building height. The results indicate that audit-based average walkability scores can be effectively estimated, as the regression model can explain about 82% of the variation. Furthermore, the density of retail and entertainment activities was indicated as the strongest correlate of more walking-friendly streetscapes, while some urban policy implications include the promotion of footpath repairs and better-engineered crossings.

A Remote Sensing Based Calibration Framework for the MOLAND Urban Growth Model of Dublin

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Van de Voorde ◽  
Johannes van der Kwast ◽  
Frank Canters ◽  
Guy Engelen ◽  
Marc Binard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Urban Form ◽  
Model Calibration ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Model Output ◽  
Spatial Metrics ◽  
Change Models ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
And Function

Land-use change models are useful tools for assessing and comparing the environmental impact of alternative policy scenarios. Their increasing popularity as spatial planning instruments also poses new scientific challenges, such as correctly calibrating the model. The challenge in model calibration is twofold: obtaining a reliable and consistent time series of land-use information and finding suitable measures to compare model output to reality. Both of these issues are addressed in this paper. The authors propose a model calibration framework that is supported by information on urban form and function derived from medium-resolution remote sensing data through newly developed spatial metrics. The remote sensing derived maps are compared to model output of the same date for two model scenarios using well-known spatial metrics. Results demonstrate a good resemblance between the simulation output and the remote sensing derived maps.

scholarly journals Understanding the urbanization impacts of high-speed rail in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-34
Author(s):  
Anthony Perl ◽  
Taotao Deng ◽  
Leandro Correa ◽  
Dandan Wang ◽  
Yulin Yan
Keyword(s):  
Urban Form ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
National Network ◽  
Rail Network ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
And Function

Advances in transport technology have been shown to play a vital role in urban development over millennia. From the engineering and pavement innovations of the Roman road network to the aerospace breakthroughs that enabled jet aircraft, cities have been reshaped by the mobility changes resulting from new designs for moving people and goods. This article explores the urbanization impacts of High-Speed Rail’s introduction in China, which has built the world’s largest High-Speed Rail network in record time. Since High-Speed Rail was launched in Japan in 1964, this technology has worked to reshape intercity travel as a revolutionary transportation alternative. High-Speed Rail has developed steadily across Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland during the 1970s and 1980s. It expanded to Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Sweden in the 1990s. In the 21st century, China began developing High-Speed Rail on an unprecedented scale, and now has a national network that is longer than the totality of the rest of the world’s High-Speed Rail operations combined. China’s High-Speed Rail operation is exerting a transformative influence on urban form and function. This article synthesizes secondary research results to analyse the impacts of HSR on urbanization. These effects include population redistribution, urban spatial expansion and industrial development. We offer a typol-ogy that considers the urban effects of High-Speed Rail at three spatial levels: the station area, the urban jurisdiction, and the regional agglomeration. When organized through our typology, research findings demonstrate that High-Speed Rail influences urban population size, urban spatial layout and industrial development by changing the acces-sibility of cities. We highlight the processes by which High-Speed Rail ultimately affects the urbanization process for people, land use, and industrial development. However, High-Speed Rail’s impacts on urbanization are not always positive. While leveraging the development opportunity enabled by High-Speed Rail, governments around the world should also avoid potential negative impacts by drawing lessons from the experience of High-Speed Rail’s rapid de-ployment in China.

scholarly journals Urban form and function as building performance parameters

2013 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 112-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Ann Futcher ◽  
Tristan Kershaw ◽  
Gerald Mills
Keyword(s):  
Urban Form ◽  
Building Performance ◽  
Performance Parameters ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
And Function

scholarly journals Natural movement: A space syntax theory linking urban form and function with walking for transport

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 102072 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Javad Koohsari ◽  
Koichiro Oka ◽  
Neville Owen ◽  
Takemi Sugiyama
Keyword(s):  
Urban Form ◽  
Space Syntax ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Natural Movement ◽  
And Function

Mapping Jewishness in Antiquity

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-454
Author(s):  
John Van Maaren
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Jewish History ◽  
Current Model ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Recent Contribution ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Individual Agency ◽  
The Social ◽  
Societal Changes ◽  
And Function

This article introduces a recent contribution to the study of ethnicity from the social sciences that provides needed systemization to the study of Jewishness in antiquity. Current scholarship on Jewishness has no instrument by which to relate the construction of Jewish identity to macro-level societal changes. The current model, based on extensive empirical data, explains changes in the form and function of ethnicity by a cyclical model that links macro-level characteristics of the social field with individual agency in ethnic construction to produce the first comparative analytic of “how and why ethnicity matters in certain society and contexts.” The introduction presented here illustrates the various components of the model with examples from Jewish history and texts and suggests how this model might be used to better understand dynamics of identity construction and change among Jews in antiquity.

scholarly journals REMAKE CITY FORM AND FUNCTION: NEO-TRADITIONAL NEIGHBOURHOOD DESIGN APPROACH IN COALITION WITH LAHORE METRO BUS SERVICE

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-22
Author(s):  
Sadaf Saeed
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Urban Form ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Environmental Implications ◽  
Bus Service ◽  
And Function ◽  
The City

Developing countries are facing various challenges and mass scale urbanisation; and issues related to urban mobility are few of them. Particularly mega cities are struggling with increased rates of motorisation along with dilapidated conditions of public transport systems. To overcome these mobility hurdles the adoption of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is considered an optimal option for countries with limited financial and technical resources. Likewise, the policy makers of Pakistan introduced the first BRT named the Lahore Metro Bus (LMB) in 2013. This research examines the role of LMB under the lens of urban planning. To determine the potentials of BRT (LMB) in terms of urban development this research paper is organised into two sections. In section one the nature of the executed metro bus service in Lahore is explored and in section two the potentials of this service from the perspective of urban planning are discussed. The methodology adopted in this study is a mixed method research structured on an exploratory sequential framework. Semi structured interviews are conducted with planning professionals of Lahore explaining the role that the service has or ought to have in terms of urban development. These interviews with planning professionals highlight certain discourses, explaining the current planning process of transit service and future policy implications. The study concludes that the metro bus concept is executed as a stand-alone mobility component in Lahore. Therefore, the benefits are limited to move people from one place to another. However, if the metro service were envisioned as a component of urban policy then it could have had a wide potential to impact the urban form of the city. It was further determined that the adapted measures as a part of this concept are narrowly engineering focused towards the technical aspects of this service, while the socio-cultural components of the city are neglected. To enhance the benefits of LMB service from the perception of urban planning, the concept of Neo- Traditionalism is suggested in conjunction with the existing transit facility. The application of Neo- Traditional Neighbourhood Design (NTND) approach would be the first step to turn the transit neighbourhoods into Neo-Traditional communities. These communities appear and function like old styled environment friendly towns. A Neo Transit Lahore Model (NTLM) is derived as an outcome of this paper. This model would curtail the negative impacts of urban sprawl by promoting the use of public transport and non-motorised travel in the transit neighbourhoods of Lahore. In this study the contemporary transit infrastructure is used as a tool to revive the conventional features of Lahore. The parameters of this approach are analysed in three selected neighbourhoods along the LMB corridor. The Neo-Traditional transit model approach will have social, economic and environmental implications. Keywords: New Urbanism, Neo-traditional neighbourhoods, Connection between communities, Lahore Metro Bus Service

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