Examining the geometry of streets through accessibility: new insights from streetspace allocation analysis

Abstract

This paper describes streetspace allocation analysis, a method that uses street cross-sections to measure footway and carriageway widths and quantify a key parameter of street design citywide. The resulting network-based streetspace allocation metrics are employed on a proof-of-concept study of train station service areas in London, applying shortest-path analysis under a place and walking prioritisation approach. Overall, streetspace allocation statistics for London confirm the citywide predominance of space allocated for vehicular transport over pedestrian uses. A comparison of the current distribution and proposed re-allocation of streetspace on streets near stations allows for the investigation of the effects of streetspace enhancements, which tend to be beneficial in reducing pedestrian movement impedance and extending service areas. The methods presented here can offer valuable analytical capacity for developing new transit-oriented schemes and designing place-based streets that support sustainable transport and sustainable urban development.

The Quest for Proximity: A Systematic Review of Computational Approaches towards 15-Minute Cities

“…We also found one study that operates at the street scale [38], addressing the location of amenities and spatial quality with an emphasis on walkability. Additionally, works at the block scale [54,55] seek to establish discussions about providing services, public spaces, travel time, and how these factors impact daily life or even new pandemic scenarios.…”

“…Regarding the use of resources to support the research, a considerable portion of the studies explicitly declared the parameters they applied in the context of their work [24,34,35,[40][41][42][43][44][45][46][48][49][50][51][52][53]55,59,60,62,[64][65][66][67][68][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77]. This finding is relevant as it directly associates the field of urban design, oriented towards FMC, with performance metrics.…”

Advances in geospatial approaches to transport networks and sustainable mobility

“…To better comprehend how our dynamic mobility systems work, it is important to understand the features and characteristics of the built environment that make the movement along the streets possible. Palominos and Smith (2022) introduce a novel streetspace allocation analysis method that uses street cross-sections to measure footway and carriageway widths of the street network. This approach was used to evaluate citywide street design in London, UK, and they show that the technique can provide greater insights into understanding the street network structure, and connectivity patterns.…”

Relative Variability in Streetscape Skeletons and Spatial Association: Application for Identifying Harmonious and Inharmonious Streetscape Skeletons in Tokyo

“…In the literature, building height has been conventionally approximated by the product of the number of storeys of a building and the floor height, which is given as constant irrespective of the buildings involved (e.g., Kawamura, 2010; Biljecki, Ledoux, and Stoter, 2017; Watanabe et al, 2017; Li et al, 2020; Usui, 2021; Usui, 2023b). Measuring building setbacks and visual streetscape width remains a formidable task that has conventionally relied on surveys and direct observation by humans in the field (Clifton, Smith, and Rodriguez, 2007; Clifton et al, 2008; Harvey and Aultman‐Hall, 2016; Oliveira and Medeiros, 2016; Millard‐Ball, 2022; Palominos and Smith, 2022; Usui, 2023c).…”