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The purpose of the study is to implement a methodology intended to identify the links between the microclimatic quality of urban routes and the behavior of pedestrians. This document will open up new opportunities for the development of urban open spaces and facilitate decision-making for urban decision-makers.

The methodology intended to identify the links between the microclimatic quality of urban routes and the behavior of pedestrians is deployed in two stages. The first stage represents a microclimatic characterization of the pedestrian routes. The second step represents a behavioral characterization of these same journeys, based on the on-site video observation of the pedestrians.

The analysis of the results obtained by applying this method shows that the physical factors of the urban environment in the two climatic seasons (winter, summer) significantly influence the choice of routes, the percentage of route use, the speed of travel and the frequency of user stops.

The authors have recently observed that the issue of the influence of microclimatic factors on the behavior of pedestrians, and more particularly their movements, has only rarely been addressed. It is therefore in this context that the authors would like to provide, through this article, some technical solutions for analysis and characterization as well as some answers to the problem of the influence of microclimatic factors on pedestrian movements.

The most sustainable forms of urban mobility are walking and cycling. These modes of transportation are the most environmental friendly, the most economically viable and the most socially inclusive and engaging modes of urban transportation. To measure and compare the effectiveness of alternative pedestrianization or cycling infrastructure plans, the authors need to measure the potential flows of pedestrians and cyclists. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

The authors have developed a computational methodology to predict walking and cycling flows and local centrality of streets, given a road centerline network and occupancy or population density data attributed to building plots.

The authors show the functionality of this model in a hypothetical grid network and a simulated setting in a real town. In addition, the authors show how this model can be validated using crowd-sensed data on human mobility trails. This methodology can be used in assessing sustainable urban mobility plans.

The main contribution of this paper is the generalization and adaptation of two network centrality models and a trip-distribution model for studying walking and cycling mobility.

In cities with high density, heat is often trapped between buildings which increases the frequency and intensity of heat events. Researchers have focused on developing strategies to mitigate the negative impacts of heat in cities. Adopting green infrastructure and cooling pavements are some of the many ways to promote thermal comfort against heat. The purpose of this study is to improve microclimate conditions and thermal comfort levels in high-density living conditions in Seoul, South Korea.

This study compares six design alternatives of an apartment complex with different paving and planting systems. It also examines the thermal outcome of the alternatives under normal and extreme heat conditions to suggest strategies to secure acceptable thermal comfort levels for the inhabitants. Each alternative is analyzed using ENVI-met, a software program that simulates microclimate conditions and thermal comfort features based on relationships among buildings, vegetation and pavements.

The results indicate that grass paving was more effective than stone paving in lowering air temperature and improving thermal comfort at the near-surface level. Coniferous trees were found to be more effective than broadleaf trees in reducing temperature. Thermal comfort levels were most improved when coniferous trees were planted in paired settings.

Landscape elements show promise for the improvement of thermal conditions because it is much easier to redesign landscape elements, such as paving or planting, than to change fixed urban elements like buildings and roads. The results identified the potential of landscape design for improving microclimate and thermal comfort in urban residential complexes.

The results contribute to the literature by examining the effect of tree species and layout on thermal comfort levels, which has been rarely investigated in previous studies.

Studies on the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) for Bangkok are found sparingly. The TOD concept is a supportive development for the rapidly changing city in order to reduce urban transport problems while encouraging people to shift transport modes to use public transportations instead of private cars. This study discusses the context of TOD in the density, the design, and the diversity of land use around transit stations among successful stations in many countries. There were 18 station areas in Bangkok which, by using the TOD Readiness score, the assessment of the stations implies that the higher scoring transit stations are more compatible to supporting pedestrian use of the transit station with lower car dependency. The 4 top-scoring stations were assessing by using multinomial logistic regression model. The study has found TOD scores and the frequent uses of the stations consequently encourage the commuters around the station areas decided to rely on public transport instead of car dependency. This is an effort to overcome the understanding of the station areas by reducing the complexity of the TOD contexts to any transit station in Thailand to be eligible for future study.

The study aims to promote independent mobility for persons with visual impairment or legal blindness (VIB) by developing a Web-based wayfinding application using geographic information systems (GIS). While the literature mainly focuses on technical devices presenting results for wayfinding, a lack of integration of user needs is identified. The inclusive, participative developed application offers step-by-step directions for pre-trip planning through an accessible user interface.

The paper presents a semi-automated approach to extract a pedestrian routing network data set based on open government data and field survey. User profiles calculate different routes using a weighting scheme for landmarks, orientation hints, infrastructure of crossings and sidewalks. The adoption of ArcGIS Web AppBuilder widgets allows access of the user interface additionally through keyboard-only navigation and therefore screen-reader capability.

GIS offers a powerful tool to design network analysis for persons with VIB. The routing algorithm accesses different user profiles, returning individualized turn-by-turn directions. The complex set of attributes, including shorelines, landmarks and barriers, can be integrated by semi-automated processes.

The paper illustrates the benefit of GIS applications for wayfinding of persons with VIB to raise self-determination and independence.

A ubiquitous pedestrian sidewalk network for a medium-size city comprises a novelty, as research has mainly focused on small areas. The integration of shorelines next to a various number of hints, landmarks and potential barriers through semi-automated processes allows reproducibility and transferability of the model to other cities.

This study aims to validate a model for estimating platoon delay due to pedestrian crossing for use in Kuwait City.

The model was modified slightly for the scenario used in Kuwait, in which the presence of raised crosswalk meant that all incoming traffic would slow down automatically. Using video footage to observe the site, several variables were collected, and a model was used to calculate the delays suffered by the vehicles because of pedestrian crossing. The model was validated using the actual footage and manual observation to measure the delays.

The model showed a good match fit to the observed data, as the average delays differed by 22.5% between the two methods. Following the comparison, a sensitivity analysis was made on three variables: the acceleration rate, deceleration rate, as well as the pedestrian walking time. The analysis has shown that deceleration rate has approximately twice the effect on the model than the acceleration rate has. It has also shown that the pedestrian walking time has a major effect on the model, in an almost one-to-one correlation. A 50% change of the pedestrian walking time is associated with approximately 50% change in the model’s output delay.

A model for estimating platoon delay because of pedestrian crossing was validated for use in Kuwait City. The model was modified slightly for the scenario used in Kuwait, in which the presence of raised crosswalk meant that all incoming traffic would slow down automatically.