Modeling street connectivity, pedestrian movement and land-use according to standard GIS street network representations: A Comparative Study

by Ayse Ozbil, John Peponis, and Brian Stone

Two 1 mile x 1 mile areas in Atlanta and two 1 mile x 1 mile areas in Istanbul are compared to establish correlations between the distribution of pedestrian movement and street configuration. In each city, one area is chosen in the urban center and the other in one of the residential neighborhoods. The aim is to identify both underlying regularities that link street connectivity to pedestrian flows and differences regarding the volumes of pedestrian presence that can be traced to the influence of different modes of space appropriation. Based on pilot studies we expect to show that the volumes of pedestrian traffic per road segment can be post-dicted based on an analysis of standard GIS-based representations of street networks to implement two new measures of connectivity: reach, which measures the length of street network accessible within a given walking radius, and directional distance, which measures the number of direction turns needed to get to all accessible parts of the network. The work has several consequences. First, it complements existing work on the influence of density and design upon pedestrian movement by bringing into sharper focus a variable that clearly partakes of both design and density, namely the connectivity of the street network and its configuration. Second, it helps clarify that while land-use may play an important role in determining the average volume of movement in a given area, spatial layout plays a more important role in determining the distribution of movement within an area. This has consequences for at least some kinds of local urban economy as the comparative analysis will show: in Istanbul retail still relies on the “passing trade” more than it does in Atlanta because of the finer grain not only of the street network but also the size of businesses.

read more

more about Space Syntax:

TRADITIONAL SHOPPING: A Syntactic Comparison of Commercial Spaces in Iran and Turkey

Can Betweenness Centrality Explain Traffic Flow?

Correlating Densities of Centrality and Activities in Cities: the Cases of Bologna (IT) and Barcelona (ES)

Correlating street centrality with commerce and service location in cities

Street Centrality and Densities of Retails and Services in Bologna, Italy

Evaluated Model of Pedestrian Movement Based on Space Syntax, Performance Measures and Artificial Neural Nets

THE STREETS OF INNOVATION: an exploratory analysis of knowledge transfer in the public realm

An integration of space syntax into GIS for modelling urban spaces

It's a Big Week for the Ft. McPherson Redevelopment Project

by Josh Lindenbaum

Owned by the U.S. Army and occupied by it from the end of the Civil War until it fell victim to the Defense Department's 2005 cost-saving wave of base closure orders, Ft. McPherson offers a huge opportunity for redevelopment in East Point on the southwest side of town. Proposals were due at noon today from developers seeking to serve as 'master developer' for commercial and residential aspects of a re-purposing of the base's assets and land. And when Governor Deal unveils his 2013 budget later in the week, we should learn how much the state plans to allocate to development of a science and technology park onsite.

read more

more about urban Atlanta:

Urban Sprawl and Atlanta’s Air Quality Problems

New Urbanism in Memphis and Atlanta

Tomorrow is Another Day for Atlanta’s Sustainable Transport

Neighborhoods: Is East Atlanta Losing Its Soul?

 

Urban Sprawl and Atlanta’s Air Quality Problems

by Erica Coslor

Spending time in Atlanta without a car is a frustrating experience. My summer internship at Georgia State University let me experience firsthand the effects of poor design and urban sprawl. Every day on my way to the MARTA station, I would walk across an overpass crossing I-75/85, and each time I would be reminded of the ill effects of traffic congestion. The humid air felt sooty from the pollution and the noise of thousands of cars was enough to interfere with conversation (unless there was a mass of gridlock). What a contrast to the cool air of the subway station and its relatively quiet cars. Better yet, once I got on a train, I was downtown for work in only 15 minutes. As the Georgia Department of Natural Resources states, Atlanta grew up with the advent of the automobile and the two-car garage, resulting in fewer in-town residents compared with older cities. This means that the city has a large population that is accustomed to living in the suburbs and driving relatively long distances to work.

There are clearly many reasons to reign in Atlanta’s urban sprawl. The air quality problems create health risks for asthma sufferers and the elderly, as well as damaging the natural environment. In addition, the city’s design makes it difficult for inner-city residents to work in the suburbs if they do not have a car. The city is finally beginning to realize the necessity of examining sprawl, if only because of the loss of federal highway dollars for failing to meet the Clean Air Act standards. I see the process of solving the automobile-related problems as an opportunity to create interest in comprehensive plans to address urban sprawl and its effects. Alternatives to single-driver commuting, such as the expansion of public transit, incentives for carpools, and private solutions, can be an important part of Atlanta’s growth plans.

read more

With 16 lanes, interstates 75 and 85 function as CO2 emission generators in downtown Atlanta, photo by Doug Bradley Photography 

more about urban Atlanta:

Graffiti photos, Atlanta 1

New Urbanism and Planning History: Back to the Future

Skyline photos of Atlanta 1

Tomorrow is Another Day for Atlanta’s Sustainable Transport

Graffiti photos, Atlanta 1

Graffiti in Atlanta, by brookenovak

Graffiti in Atlanta, by kalabron

Graffiti in Atlanta, by kalabron

Graffiti in Atlanta, by brookenovak

Graffiti in Atlanta, by kalabron

Graffiti in Atlanta, by kalabron

Graffiti in Atlanta, by kalabron

more Graffiti photos:

Graffiti in Paris 1

Social exclusion and transportation in Peachtree City Georgia

by Ruth Conroy Dalton

This paper will discuss how, in a small American city, Peachtree City (43km south of Atlanta), the flexibility and relative affordability of electric golf carts, as a viable alternative to the automobile, means that the level at which families and individuals are disadvantaged through their lack of access to public/private transport is effectively lowered. Economic access to golf carts, in of itself, would not be sufficient if it were not for the extensive, highly penetrative and ‘ringy’ spatial structure of the cart path system, a mostly-segregated, 150 kilometre network. A spatial analysis of this dual transportation system is presented and its implications discussed. The conclusion of this paper is that the duality of the effective spatial structure of the cart path network and the relative low cost and inherent flexibility of the golf carts combine to reduce transportation-linked social exclusion in Peachtree City. This argument is substantiated, in the final section of the paper, through the evidence of a questionnaire distributed to a random sampling of 1,038 property owners and renters in the city.

read more

more Space Syntax papers:

Evaluated Model of Pedestrian Movement Based on Space Syntax, Performance Measures and Artificial Neural Nets

Compact Sprawl Experiments Four Strategic Densification Scenarios for Two Modernist Suburbs in Stockholm

THE STREETS OF INNOVATION: an exploratory analysis of knowledge transfer in the public realm

New Urbanism in Memphis and Atlanta

via Aesthetic Grounds

Twice I read Derek Merrill & Beau B. Beza's essay in Refractory: a Journal of Entertainment Media. The writers utilize the concept of the "screen" to explore Atlantic Station development in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlantic Station is a environmental urban brownfield redevelopment and reclamation of the 100-year-old Atlantic Steel Mill requiring the removal of 9,000 dump truck loads of contaminated soil. The 138-acres are divided into three zone: mixed use outdoor shopping mall with 6 million SF of office highrise space, mid-rise apartments surrounding a wetland and the IKEA store. Due to the terrain and earth removal, all the public parking is below ground providing much more flexibility in pedestrian space design.  

I wrote Merrill and Beza that the screen was a poor choice of words to assist with the analysis. It was a forced metaphor regarding the spatial conception. I visit as many new urbanist places as possible to understand them. The designers conceive these developments as a series of territorial types, which are set next to each other. Each territory has an aesthetic heart (round, linear or grid) that is defined with building facades. 

read more

Harbor Town, Mud Island, Memphis, Tenn.,photo by ilovememphis

more articles about New Urbanism:

New Urbanism and Planning History: Back to the Future

New Urbanism Now: Catching up with Andrés Duany

In Markham, the dream of an urban village that never was

New Urbanism: A Salve or Bane to Urban Wounds?

Poverty and Connectivity: Crossing the Tracks

by Ann Carpenter and John Peponis

The spatial structure of cities influences the patterns of development and the spatial distribution of income groups. Past studies have shown that historically the integration of streets is a strong predictor of wealth and poverty in London. Although the current societal and regulatory characteristics of Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. differ considerably from those that have historically prevailed in London, recent research has shown that street network integration and connectedness correlate significantly with measures of wealth and poverty in different manners at different scales. The spatial concentration of poverty and the segregation of income classes are associated with specific problems in the U.S. as elsewhere: negative externalities include poor access to employment, lack of social networking opportunities, vulnerability, psychosocial effects, political disenfranchisement, and the inadequate provision of services, shops, and amenities. The poor tend to be less mobile, making the spatial mismatch between jobs and low-income housing a significant concern for planners and policy makers. Vulnerability to crime and lack of resistance to disasters are also serious problems. As witnessed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, poor neighborhoods have fewer resources and insufficient social and physical infrastructure for rebuilding or transforming unfavorable urban conditions. Finally, the funding of public schools and patronage at inner-city hospitals is tied to the income of surrounding neighborhoods in the U.S., thus making the equitable provision of services harder.
This paper seeks to understand how urban form, specifically measures of street connectivity, relate to poverty in Atlanta. Initial results indicate that at the scale of larger spatial units, or U.S. Census block groups, connectivity increases as the number of households living in poverty increases. This trend expresses the tendency whereby middle and upper income groups have fled to the suburbs and peripheral urban centers since the 1960s. However, using household-level and other finer-scale data, the results invert. Within a local area, connectivity is associated with an increase in household income. The segregation of income groups by neighborhood is responsible for the larger-scale trend, while the recent popularity of neo-traditional and mixed-income housing as part of a return to a more urban life style for the middle classes may contribute to the smaller-scale trend.

read more

more papers about Space Syntax indicators:

THE EFFECTS OF PROPOSED BRIDGES ON URBAN MACROFORM OF ISTANBUL: a syntactic evaluation

Planning a Deep Island: introducing Space Syntax to an urban planning process for Phuket, Thailand

WALKABILITY, MOVEMENT AND SAFETY FOR THE CITY OF BERKELEY

PhD in City & Regional Planning in Georgia Tech

Doctoral studies in city and regional planning offers the rewards of conducting research and building theory in an applied professional field. By linking theory to practice, students and faculty explore the most important issues facing cities and regions today. Our focus is on building sustainable and vibrant urban environments and communities through interdisciplinary study and research. Our doctoral students have consistently graduated to top-flight academic and other professional careers. We welcome your interest and inquiries.
The doctoral program has three main components: the coursework, which includes  the program core, a major field and a minor field; the comprehensive exams; and the dissertation.  The program of study requires a minimum of two years of residency (no fewer than four semesters enrolled for at least six (6) credit hours each excluding summer) devoted to coursework and other preparation for advancement to candidacy. A successful student will demonstrate mastery in these areas and thus be prepared to pursue upper-level careers in government, business, research, and academia. Full details can be found in the PhD Program Handbook.

Each PhD student is admitted to a major area of study. Any change to the major requires review and approval by the PhD faculty.

Requirements for the major are met by satisfactory performance (B or better letter grade) in courses composing not fewer than 15 credit hours. The student’s Advisory Committee may require other courses within the College or other units within the University System of Georgia consistent with the student’s expressed interest in her selected field of concentration. The courses are expected to provide a full grounding and preparation in both the substance of the field of study and appropriate methods of inquiry and analysis.

Examples of majors pursued by doctoral students in the School of City and Regional Planning include:

• Urban environmental planning
• Urban transportation planning
• Regional development planning

 read more

Georgia Tech campus, by killmylandlord

more urban planning PhDs:

PhD and Master's in city & regional planning, Cornell University

PhD program in City Planning, in University of Pennsylvania

PhD in Planning, University of Toronto

PhD in Urban and Regional Sciences in Texas A&M University

Urban Planning Today

Urban Planning Today reports on projects in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York, and Portland, bringing perspectives of urban design, city planning, criticism, and law to bear on the mixed bag of results observed in these cities.

more about Atlanta:

New Urbanism and Planning History: Back to the Future

Skyline photos of Atlanta 1

Tomorrow is Another Day for Atlanta’s Sustainable Transport

New Urbanism and Planning History: Back to the Future

by Christopher Silver

At the annual conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning held in Atlanta in November 2000, the session which drew by far the largest attendance was architect Andreas Duany’s presentation on New Urbanism. Those in attendance were treated to an animated and at times vitriolic attack on planners, not unlike the vinegary verbal assaults Jane Jacobs dished out in the early 1960s in The Death and Life of Great American Cities and in her many reviews, essays and public presentations on planning. Both Duany and Jacobs decried the lack of consideration of human scale in the products of modernists, and challenged planners to revise the rules of development to safeguard vibrant urban places. What was distinctive about Duany’s critique was that he celebrated a variety of community designers and builders while bashing the ordinary planners as regulators. He contended in his Atlanta presentation, like he has in other writings, that the period prior to World War II (especially during the 1920s) was a golden era in community design and development. Planning was less institutionalized, subdivision regulations were based upon tradition rather than formulas, and community design schemes were the visionary products of landscape architects, architects and planning consultants given broad latitude by their private developer clients. New uniform community design standards perpetuated by the Federal Housing Administration beginning in the 1940s, coupled with the impact of the federal highway program on residential dispersal, created an automobile-dependent residential fabric devoid of interconnectedness and lacking civic virtue. Duany urged the Atlanta audience to look backward for best practices and to revise the development rules for the future, to recapture lost elements from past planning as an antidote to sprawl.

What the New Urbanists offer, according to Duany, is a set of principles and range of development models to guide public policy, development practice, urban planning and design in order to reduce sprawl. New Urbanists regard the metropolis as the fundamental economic unit of the contemporary world, but see it is a finite place with clear edges that separate its inhabitants from farmlands, watersheds, open spaces and river basins. Development practices should sustain the metropolis as a whole through infill development and redevelopment that takes precedence over peripheral expansion.

read more

Middleton Hills, Wisconsin: planned by DPZ, photo by Mulad

 

 

Middleton Hills, Wisconsin: planned by DPZ, photo by Mulad

more about New Urbanism:

In Markham, the dream of an urban village that never was

New Urbanism: A Salve or Bane to Urban Wounds?

From Suburb to City: An Opportunity Born of Necessity

Skyline photos of Atlanta 1

Atlanta skyline, by dolescum

Atlanta skyline, by D.L.

Atlanta skyline, photo by atlpookie

Atlanta skyline, by brendanlim

Atlanta skyline, by JustinDustin

Atlanta skyline, by RW PhotoBug

Atlanta skyline, by nanovivid

Atlanta skyline, by Anne Davis

more skyline photos of the north-American cities:

Skyline photos of Detroit 1

Skyline photos of Boston 1

Skyline photos of Calgary 1

Modeling street connectivity, pedestrian movement and land-use according to standard GIS street network representations: A Comparative Study

Ayse Ozbil, John Peponis, Brian Stone

 Two 1 mile x 1 mile areas in Atlanta and two 1 mile x 1 mile areas in Istanbul are compared to establish correlations between the distribution of pedestrian movement and street configuration. In each city, one area is chosen in the urban center and the other in one of the residential neighborhoods. The aim is to identify both underlying regularities that link street connectivity to pedestrian flows and differences regarding the volumes of pedestrian presence that can be traced to the influence of different modes of space appropriation. Based on pilot studies we expect to show that the volumes of pedestrian traffic per road segment can be post-dicted based on an analysis of standard GIS-based representations of street networks to implement two new measures of connectivity: reach, which measures the length of street network accessible within a given walking radius, and directional distance, which measures the number of direction turns needed to get to all accessible parts of the network. The work has several consequences. First, it complements existing work on the influence of density and design upon pedestrian movement by bringing into sharper focus a variable that clearly partakes of both design and density, namely the connectivity of the street network and its configuration. Second, it helps clarify that while land-use may play an important role in determining the average volume of movement in a given area, spatial layout plays a more important role in determining the distribution of movement within an area. This has consequences for at least some kinds of local urban economy as the comparative analysis will show: in Istanbul retail still relies on the “passing trade” more than it does in Atlanta because of the finer grain not only of the street network but also the size of businesses.

read more

A sloped walkway in Downtown Atlanta, by marvelous_blue

Downtown Atlanta, by Joel Mann

more about Atlanta and Istanbul:

Reed unveils conservation plan to make Atlanta grow ‘greener’

Tomorrow is Another Day for Atlanta’s Sustainable Transport

THE EFFECTS OF PROPOSED BRIDGES ON URBAN MACROFORM OF ISTANBUL: a syntactic evaluation

Polycentric Urban Development and Istanbul

Reed unveils conservation plan to make Atlanta grow ‘greener’

By John Schaffner

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has rolled out a plan he says will make Atlanta one of the nation’s top 10 “green” cities, with less smog, more park space, a larger percentage of locally produced food and improved water conservation.

The top 10 ranking that Reed seeks is from Sustainlane.com, an online site for fans of “green” living. Atlanta ranked 19th, up from 38th, in the group’s 2008 peer-reviewed survey.

On Oct. 25, Reed announced a plan to achieve the top 10 ranking. His plan includes a combination of new projects and policy initiatives, as well as the continuation of several successful, well-established programs. The plan sets sustainability benchmarks for all city departments, such as the reduction of petroleum fuel usage and water system leakage.

“It’s an ambitious plan,” said Mandy Mahoney, the city’s director of sustainability, who heads up the program. “Mayor Reed has set a high bar. The mayor believes sustainability is critical to the growth of the city,” she said.

The goal is to make the city more competitive against cities like Seattle, Chicago and New York, which have recognized leading-edge policies on green building, electric vehicle infrastructure and pedestrian-only zones, and to improve quality of life.

read more

Metro Atlanta is still a green area, photo by hoyasmeg

more articles about urban planning in Atlanta:

The Belt Line and Rail Traffic in Atlanta’s Urban Core

Neighborhoods: Is East Atlanta Losing Its Soul?

Tomorrow is Another Day for Atlanta’s Sustainable Transport

The Belt Line and Rail Traffic in Atlanta’s Urban Core

Via Friends of the Belt Line

The purpose of this paper is to address concerns that the Belt Line and efforts toward an efficient and effective regional freight and passenger (or commuter) rail network are mutually exclusive. They are not. In fact, if Atlanta is to remain a great city, it must, and can, have both. The concerns are based on a few key decisions that must be made about how the two systems can coexist. Friends of the Belt Line is producing this report in order to help clarify these key issues so that both concepts can move forward.
There are 4 main issues:
1. Use of CSX’s active Seaboard Air Line Railroad as the northwest quadrant of the Belt Line
2. The route of Amtrak’s Southern Crescent
3. The Southeast High Speed Rail (SEHSR) Corridor and the configuration of the downtown Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal (MMPT)
4. The ability of CSX to route freight around downtown Atlanta Each of these issues are addressed in detail in the following report. In summary, Friends of the Belt Line makes the following recommendations: 

1. With an appropriate agreement with CSX, the northwest corridor can be shared with Belt Line transit. The trail component is more challenging from a liability standpoint, but there are several options for accommodating it.
2. If rerouting Amtrak’s Southern Crescent line into the downtown MMPT requires use of the Decatur Street Belt, then the Amtrak line should remain on its current route. There are several options for a North Station that would complement the downtown MMPT.
3. If phasing of the downtown MMPT begins with East/West oriented platforms as currently proposed, it should be recognized that this does not accommodate the Southeast High Speed Rail (SEHSR) Corridor without use of the Decatur Street Belt. Since use of this belt is not advisable for heavy passenger rail, it should also be understood that in order to accommodate the SEHSR Corridor, North/South oriented platforms will also be needed at the downtown MMPT.
4. Reinstating through-freight service on either of the two southern belts is virtually impossible due to both physical and political constraints. Their use for the Belt Line is much less challenging, and much more appropriate.

read more

Feels like home, Atlanta, photo by chick_pea_pie

Read more articles about Atlanta:

Neighborhoods: Is East Atlanta Losing Its Soul?

Tomorrow is Another Day for Atlanta’s Sustainable Transport

Neighborhoods: Is East Atlanta Losing Its Soul?

By Andrea Korber

Next American City

“Too many damn dogs,” Lucky Chuckie says. “More dogs than we ever had.” A lifetime resident of East Atlanta, Chuckie is describing one of the changes he has observed as his neighborhood has become Atlanta’s trendiest. “We,” in his mind, are the old-timers—mostly African-American homeowners who lived through East Atlanta’s startling transformation over the past four decades. “They” are the newcomer dog-owners—yuppies and families who are changing the neighborhood they now share with the old-timers. The “us” and “them” language he uses is a sure and subtle indicator of the state of East Atlanta: the first stages of gentrification.

Decades of Change

East Atlanta wasn’t always trendy. Since its optimistic conception as a model for “urban utopian living” at the turn of the century, it has been plagued by many of the same problems other American inner-city neighborhoods have faced: a fierce battle over integration, white flight to outlying suburbs, divisive highway construction (Interstate 20), and a crime wave that devastated the community.

But around the same time the neighborhood formed the East Atlanta Community Association (1981), things started to turn around. Many of the auto and tire shops were converted, crumbling homes were sold and rehabilitated, and local businesses began to thrive.

Read more

Related posts:

Tomorrow is Another Day for Atlanta’s Sustainable Transport

 

Tomorrow is Another Day for Atlanta’s Sustainable Transport

by Victoria Broadus

June 30, 2010

There’s still hope for sustainable transit around Peachtree Street.

On June 2, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue signed a comprehensive transport bill (HB 277) for the state, which we’re hoping will help Georgian cities – Atlanta, in particular – invest more in urban sustainable transport.

As The Economist highlighted last week, traffic in Atlanta is “purgatorial” on its best days and hellish all the rest.

Between 1987 and 2007, metro Atlanta’s population nearly doubled, from 2.6 million to 5 million, and in turn, the number of drivers during peak hours doubled, as well. By 2007, the 2.4 million drivers on Atlanta’s roads each day wasted a total of 135 million hours – and 96 million extra gallons of gasoline – stuck in traffic jams.

Georgia’s transit infrastructure hasn’t kept up. Between 2000 and 2006, Georgia was the third fastest-growing state, but it still ranks 49th in terms of infrastructure spending per capita.

read more