Accessibility and Connectivity Criteria for Assessing Walkability: An Application in Qazvin, Iran

Abstract

Distance is a recognized key determinant of walking. Pedestrians tend to choose the shortest route between two points. Shortest routes can be spatially described in terms of distances between two points or topologically described as the number of turns/directional changes between these points. This paper presents a methodology to evaluate the conditions provided by a street network to pedestrians, by using two space syntax measures. Accessibility was calculated through Angular Segment Analysis by Metric Distance (ASAMeD), a measure of street integration and choice strongly correlated with pedestrian movement pattern. Street Connectivity was calculated by using the space syntax measure of connectivity, which shows the direct connection of street nodes to each individual nodes. The streets criterion values of both approaches were normalized by using fuzzy logic linear functions. The method was applied in the city center of Qazvin, Iran. Results showed that the urban structure of Qazvin has a strong impact on the performance of the network. The old neighborhood centers widespread in the city center presented a high topological accessibility, while the most connected street are those streets crossing and surrounding the neighborhood areas. The method can be used to evaluate and improve pedestrian networks, as it can distinguish the most and least attractive streets according to the criteria used. These findings can be used to guide policies towards improving walkability and to create more walkable and sustainable cities.

Local centres in post-socialist suburbs: Redefined concept and retrofitting perspectives

“…Concentric layouts attract people and different non-residential functions more effectively than linear ones, since they direct a large proportion of pedestrian traffic to one place. There is a positive correlation between higher street integration measured by closeness (how close each segment is to all other segments in the network) and a greater pedestrian volume (studies that demonstrate this correlation are mentioned by Jabbari et al, 2021). Places linked directly to other environments are more accessible and tend to attract more people, making areas busier.…”

Exploring walkability research trends based on systematic literature review (SLR) by applying PRISMA

“…Based on that definition, a walkable place is one that encourages or is conducive to walking (Erturan and Spek, 2021). Walking is a mode of transportation that is the least expensive and most accessible for human mobility (Erturan and Spek, 2021;Jabbari et al, 2021). Walking has become a significant alternative means of transportation for short trips mainly in urban areas (Jabbari et al, 2021).…”

“…The walkability studies have gained popularity recently (Guzman et al, 2022), and have received high attention from researchers globally mainly within the last two years, between 2021 and 2022, based on Web of Science database (https://www.webofscience.com/). Researchers have analyzed walkability and focused on various topics (Jabbari et al, 2021). Although there have been studies reviewing articles on the study of walkability associated with trend analysis, the majority of them are not comprehensive enough to cover the multiple methods in data collection and analysis worldwide (Hasan et al, 2021).…”

Defining a Digital System for the Pedestrian Network as a Conceptual Implementation Framework

“…Moreover, there is another cost-benefit in public space by creating central business districts (CBDs) in the city [29]. In CBDs in large cities like Sydney and Melbourne, walking is the predominant way to get around [30].…”