Tasks in Forming the Pedestrian Network of the City

Abstract

The article raises the issue of assessment of pedestrian space assets as a means of supplementing the transport network and in the formation of urban communication systems. On the example of the city of Lviv, the possibility of optimizing the city’s radial-ring structure communications network in the conditions of the complicated development of rural transport communications in hilly terrain, by building circular pedestrian connections, is highlighted.
 The basis of the research is a comparative cartographic analysis of the plan of Lviv with the use of geoinformation systems for the localization of pedestrian spaces, their dependence on the city structure.
 The analysis of pedestrian traffic in Lviv shows that the existing pedestrian network – sidewalks, boulevards, pedestrian squares – duplicates the street and road network of the city. Most of the pedestrian spaces are located along the streets, bypassing the landscape areas of the city. Existing pedestrian communications do not provide connections between the main city districts with each other, with the city center and recreation places.
 The task is assigned to pedestrian elements of the city – sidewalks, boulevards, alleys, etc. Three types of pedestrian communications can be distinguished according to the type of task. The first type of pedestrian communications is rationally combinated. It provids movement between point A and B. The second type is for walking and recreation. It is interpreted as rationally whole. Both involve city-wide movement. The third type of pedestrian communications is local. It involves movement within the vernacular district. It is classified as a "traditional" element in the structure of the city district.
 The research considers the possibility of integrating pedestrian communications in transport network (in particular, the first type). To replace it in areas where the laying of transport connections is impossible due to planning restrictions. Consideration of pedestrian spaces as a full-fledged structural element of the city's transport and pedestrian network develops an alternative approach to overcoming communication problems between urbanized territories, separated by elements of the city's natural framework or other insurmountable planning restrictions (for example, as nature conservation landscapes or monuments).