Determinant Factors of Pedestrian Volume in Different Land-Use Zones: Combining Space Syntax Metrics with GIS-Based Built-Environment Measures

Abstract

This study combined space syntax metrics and geographic information systems (GIS)-based built-environment measures to analyze pedestrian volume in different land-use zones, as recorded in unique public data from a pedestrian volume survey of 10,000 locations in Seoul, Korea. The results indicate that most of the built-environment variables, such as density, land use, accessibility, and street design measures, showed statistically significant associations with pedestrian volume. Among the syntactic variables, global integration showed a statistically significant association with the average pedestrian volume in residential and commercial zones. In contrast, local integration turned out to be an important factor in the commercial zone. Therefore, this study concludes that the syntactic variables of global and local integration, as well as some built-environment variables, should be considered as determinant factors of pedestrian volume, though the effects of those variables varied by land-use zone. Therefore, planning and public policies should use tailored approaches to promote urban vitality through pedestrian volume in accordance with each land-use zone’s characteristics.

Effect of Space Configurational Attributes on Social Interactions in Urban Parks

“…In this study, the curved pathway network in parks was modeled by a series of continuous segments. A series of space syntax parameters were proposed for space relationship quantization, including depth, connectivity, control, integration, and choice [23,26,28,[38][39][40]. Four types of parameters included in the segment analysis were analyzed in this study, including:…”

“…To enable the comparison between systems of different sizes, normalized angular integration (NAIN) was suggested by Hiller and Yang, which was used in this study as the measure of the integration for each space [43]; (4) Global integration calculates the integration of the starting space to the whole system [23,28]. However, when focusing on people's behavior or movement patterns, the local integration is commonly used by applying a calculation radius [39,44].…”

“…To quantitatively analyze the spatial characteristics of urban parks, space syntax has been widely used [26,27]. In space syntax, complex urban spaces are modeled as axial lines, which allows mathematical analysis of the configurational attributes of urban spaces [9,28].…”

Exploring Effective Built Environment Factors for Evaluating Pedestrian Volume in High-Density Areas: A New Finding for the Central Business District in Melbourne, Australia

“…New data sources and methods have stimulated research on pedestrian volume. Responding to the growing demand for transit-oriented development and walkable urbanism in metropolitan areas undergoing urban renewal, previous studies determine the association between pedestrian volume or counts by multiple built environment variables, thus providing evidence to improve the walkability and service level of amenities [19][20][21].…”

“…In particular, the importance of improving the walking environment and accessibility to the subway system. A further study by Lee et al analyses the pedestrian volume by regression model and GIS-based built environment variables, with space syntax in Seoul [21]. In Seoul, land-use type, public transit stop accessibility, and sidewalk characteristics often correlate to pedestrian volume.…”