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Planning pedestrian environments requires assumptions about how pedestrians will respond to characteristics of the environment as they formulate and enact their walking itineraries. As a consequence, most research interest in public environments focuses on behavior in relation to those characteristics. For example, there is a substantial body of descriptive and typological studies of pedestrian environments. Metric, geometric, and topological models have proved useful in characterizing density and direction of movement. The need to understand the mechanism of choice has prompted microscale and laboratory-based research on exploratory spatial behavior within walking districts. Studies of behavior in relation to comfort, the way in which images of places impinge on choices, and how dynamic and serial experience of the city affects individual itineraries have all developed as specialized fields of understanding. In general, studies of pedestrian environment dynamics have both diversified and multiplied as its systems and methodologies are adapted for planning other environments.

BackgroundPhysical activity has long been considered as an important component of a healthy lifestyle. Although many efforts have been made to promote physical activity, there is no effective global intervention for physical activity promotion. Some researchers have suggested that Pokémon GO, a location-based augmented reality game, was associated with a short-term increase in players’ physical activity on a global scale, but the details are far from clear.ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to study the relationship between Pokémon GO use and players’ physical activity and how the relationship varies across players with different physical activity levels.MethodsWe conducted a field study in Hong Kong to investigate if Pokémon GO use was associated with physical activity. Pokémon GO players were asked to report their demographics through a survey; data on their Pokémon GO behaviors and daily walking and running distances were collected from their mobile phones. Participants (n=210) were Hong Kong residents, aged 13 to 65 years, who played Pokémon GO using iPhone 5 or 6 series in 5 selected types of built environment. We measured the participants’ average daily walking and running distances over a period of 35 days, from 14 days before to 21 days after game installation. Multilevel modeling was used to identify and examine the predictors (including Pokémon GO behaviors, weather, demographics, and built environment) of the relationship between Pokémon GO use and daily walking and running distances.ResultsThe average daily walking and running distances increased by 18.1% (0.96 km, approximately 1200 steps) in the 21 days after the participants installed Pokémon GO compared with the average distances over the 14 days before installation (P<.001). However, this association attenuated over time and was estimated to disappear 24 days after game installation. Multilevel models indicated that Pokémon GO had a stronger and more lasting association among the less physically active players compared with the physically active ones (P<.001). Playing Pokémon GO in green space had a significant positive relationship with daily walking and running distances (P=.03). Moreover, our results showed that whether Pokémon GO was played, the number of days played, weather (total rainfall, bright sunshine, mean air temperature, and mean wind speed), and demographics (age, gender, income, education, and body mass index) were associated with daily walking and running distances.ConclusionsPokémon GO was associated with a short-term increase in the players’ daily walking and running distances; this association was especially strong among less physically active participants. Pokémon GO can build new links between humans and green space and encourage people to engage in physical activity. Our results show that location-based augmented reality games, such as Pokémon GO, have the potential to be a global public health intervention tool.

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Microclimatic conditions in business district open spaces tend to be more extreme than prevailing weather conditions. Although the buildings are chiefly responsible for this inclemency, their shapes and arrangement could also potentially be used to moderate or enhance prevailing conditions. To provide better guidance in design, we need to know how humans respond to microclimatic conditions. In particular, we need to know first how sunlight, temperature, humidity, and wind combine in sensations of outdoor human comfort, and second, how important microclimatic factors are in behavior. This article reports on a study of revealed preferences for certain local climatic conditions, measured in terms of presence levels and activities in seven closely spaced corporate plazas and public squares in a built-up, downtown area. The observations were conducted over a 5-month period. The measured microclimatic conditions accounted for most of the variance in activity levels and types. Temperature was the single most important variable. Although great variation in level of use among spaces cannot be explained solely in terms of microclimatic differences, use within spaces varies chiefly as a function of microclimate.

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This study examined whether locally felt weather had a measurable effect on the amount of walking occurring in a given locale, by examining the observed walking rate in relation to air temperature, sunlight, and precipitation. Web-based cameras in nine cities were used to collect 6,255 observations over 7 months. Walking volumes and levels of precipitation and sunlight were captured by visual inspection; air temperature was obtained from local meteorological stations. A quasi-Poisson regression model to test the relationship between counts of pedestrians and weather conditions revealed that all three weather variables had significant associations with fluctuations in volumes of pedestrians, when controlling for city and elapsed time. A 5°C increase in temperature was associated with a 14% increase in pedestrians. A shift from snow to dry conditions was associated with an increase of 23%, and a 5% increase in sunlit area was associated with a 2% increase.