Modelowanie pieszej dostępności przestrzeni miejskiej w teorii space syntax

Modelling of pedestrian accessibility to urban space in the space syntax theory

Summary: The article deals with pedestrian accessibility to stations of public transport. It presents an example of how the space syntax theory can be used for studying space morphology and assessing the potential of pedestrian movement based on its complexity. The second aim of the article is to point to the common problem of using inappropriate cognitive methods in studies concerned with the potential effect of public transport on urban space. Formulating wrong conclusions in studies based on inadequate methods may have serious practical consequences, as founding of infrastructure investments must be justified by such studies. In consequence, investments based on flawed research will fail to stimulate changes in transport-related behaviours. For the sake of the present article I studied the pedestrian metric accessibility to the train station Kraków Łobzów within a 250 m and a 500 m radius. Next, I looked at the relationship between the results of this analysis and the concentric equidistances for the same values of radius. I used the Space Syntax theory tools to identify the urban environment of the studied area, its structure and its potential for induction of mobility. Specifically, using these tools I calculated indexes of spatial integration for areas within a 250 m and 500 m radius. These indexes were then correlated with the number of nodes in the geometric network of pedestrian traffic. All analyses were performed under four scenarios: for the current state, for the planned state, as well as for two author's proposals of transformation of the morphology of street network. Based on the above analyses I found that calculating the metric distance from a given point in space is the easiest method of assessing the actual accessibility to a destination. However, the quality of information it rovides is controversial. This analysis specifies the physical distance from a given point in space, making the method more adequate than the method of concentric equidistances for determining zones of reaching e.g. train or underground stations. However, the information it provides is incomplete, as it misses the actual movement patterns. This is because the metric method assumes that humans tend to move along the shortest paths, which is not always the case. A different approach, based on measuring angular distance, is the method of choice for quantifying values of points in space. Angular distances are more natural for humans, which has been shown in numerous studies cited in the bibliography. The change of the street network which I postulate here, following the assumption of minimizing the angle of change in movement direction, did indeed result in larger parts of the studied area being considered highly spatially integrated zones. The above method may be best suitable for determining highly integrated regions in the process of planning of both new transport infrastructure and new districts.

Słowa kluczowe: kluczowe: przestrzeń urbanistyczna, dostępność, integracja przestrzeni, ruch pieszy, space syntax

Słowa kluczowe (w języku angielskim): urban space, accessibility, integration of space, pedestrian traffic, space syntax

Miasto w badaniach geografów, 2015, IGiGP UJ, Kraków, s. 183.

Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ

tom 1.: ISBN 978-83-640089-13-8
tom 2.: ISBN 978-83-640089-14-5

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