TY - GEN
T1 - Methodological framework for evaluating liveability of urban spaces through a human centred approach
AU - Santucci, Daniele
AU - Fugiglando, Umberto
AU - Li, Xiaojiang
AU - Auer, Thomas
AU - Ratti, Carlo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Proceedings of 10th Windsor Conference: Rethinking Comfort.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - The quality of urban spaces is fundamental to the liveability of cities. In past decades, many studies at different scales have developed methodologies to evaluate comfort conditions in public spaces, as this aspect is essential for making cities more walkable. In this context, the present study develops a methodology for evaluating quality of cities through a dataset that collects millions of anonymous pedestrian trajectories through smartphone applications. This data, which includes about 1 million trips in the Boston area of over 60,000 anonymous users from May 2014 - May 2015, estimates human walking activities. Presence is used as an indicator for walkability by relating it to additional layers to provide an accurate model of the urban morphology. The aim of this paper is to present a case study on how human walking activities can be sensed, quantified and applied to determine the impact of the urban morphology and its effects on climate at a micro-scale. This study also reveals how people flows react to highly fluctuating microclimatic conditions and how pedestrians respond to the variability of the urban environment. Together, these approaches will affect multiple aspects of human life including health and wellness, infrastructure and quality of life in cities to create liveable and healthier cities.
AB - The quality of urban spaces is fundamental to the liveability of cities. In past decades, many studies at different scales have developed methodologies to evaluate comfort conditions in public spaces, as this aspect is essential for making cities more walkable. In this context, the present study develops a methodology for evaluating quality of cities through a dataset that collects millions of anonymous pedestrian trajectories through smartphone applications. This data, which includes about 1 million trips in the Boston area of over 60,000 anonymous users from May 2014 - May 2015, estimates human walking activities. Presence is used as an indicator for walkability by relating it to additional layers to provide an accurate model of the urban morphology. The aim of this paper is to present a case study on how human walking activities can be sensed, quantified and applied to determine the impact of the urban morphology and its effects on climate at a micro-scale. This study also reveals how people flows react to highly fluctuating microclimatic conditions and how pedestrians respond to the variability of the urban environment. Together, these approaches will affect multiple aspects of human life including health and wellness, infrastructure and quality of life in cities to create liveable and healthier cities.
KW - Data mining
KW - Environmental quality
KW - Liveable urban spaces
KW - Outdoor thermal comfort
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071859363&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85071859363
T3 - Proceedings of 10th Windsor Conference: Rethinking Comfort
SP - 789
EP - 797
BT - Proceedings of 10th Windsor Conference
A2 - Nicol, Fergus
A2 - Roaf, Susan
A2 - Brotas, Luisa
A2 - Humphreys, Michael A.
PB - NCEUB 2018
T2 - 10th International Windsor Conference 2018: Rethinking Comfort
Y2 - 12 April 2018 through 15 April 2018
ER -