This study attempts to comprehensively and objectively measure subjective qualities of the urban street environment. Using ratings from an expert panel, it was possible to measure five urban design qualities in terms of physical characteristics of streets and their edges: imageability, enclosure, human scale, transparency and complexity. The operational definitions do not always comport with the qualitative definitions, and provide new insights into the nature of these urban design qualities. The immediate purpose of this study is to arm researchers with operational definitions they can use to measure the street environment and test for significant associations with walking behaviour. A validation study is currently underway in New York City. Depending on the outcome of this and other follow-up research, the ultimate purpose would be to inform urban design practice.

/pdf/measuring-the-unmeasurable-urban-design-qualities-related-to-1ieq5q5prc.pdf

Measuring the Unmeasurable: Urban Design Qualities Related to Walkability

Background: In active living research, measures used to characterize the built environment have been mostly gross qualities such as neighborhood density and park access. This project has developed operational definitions and measurement protocols for subtler urban design qualities believed to be related to walkability. Methods: Methods included: 1) recruiting an expert panel; 2) shooting video clips of streetscapes; 3) rating urban design qualities of streetscapes by the expert panel; 4) measuring physical features of streetscapes from the video clips; 5) testing inter-rater reliability of physical measurements and urban design quality ratings; 6) statistically analyzing relationships between physical features and urban design quality ratings, 7) selecting of qualities for operationalization, and 8) developing of operational definitions and measurement protocols for urban design qualities based on statistical relationships. Results: Operational definitions and measurement protocols were developed for five...

/pdf/identifying-and-measuring-urban-design-qualities-related-to-5nsmghqcxt.pdf

Identifying and Measuring Urban Design Qualities Related to Walkability

http://tram.mcgill.ca/Research/Publications/ped_safety_montreal.pdf

The link between built environment, pedestrian activity and pedestrian–vehicle collision occurrence at signalized intersections

This paper characterizes and reviews multidisciplinary approaches to urban form. It begins by classifying quantitative approaches to analyzing urban form into five classes: landscape ecology, economic structure, surface transportation, community design, and urban design. It then reviews quantitative measures in each class. Based on the review, four conclusions are drawn. First, over the last two decades substantial progress has been made in the ability to measure and analyze spatial patterns that help characterize urban form. Second, at multiples scales and for a variety of reasons, there are advantages to development that is mixed and compact. Third, normative principles and policies for addressing urban form need to be crafted at multiple scales and carefully designed to address the disparate issues that arise at each scale. Fourth, with so many disparate measures now used to operationalize the same constructs, it would advance urban form research to have some standardization in operational definitions ...

Quantitative analysis of urban form: a multidisciplinary review

Background
Pedestrian injury frequently results in devastating and costly injuries and accounts for 11% of all road user fatalities. In the United States in 2006 there were 4,784 fatalities and 61,000 injuries from pedestrian injury, and in 2007 there were 4,654 fatalities and 70,000 injuries. In Canada, injury is the leading cause of death for those under 45 years of age and the fourth most common cause of death for all ages Traumatic pedestrian injury results in nearly 4000 hospitalizations in Canada annually. These injuries result from the interplay of modifiable environmental factors. The objective of this study was to determine links between the built environment and pedestrian injury hotspots in Vancouver.

/pdf/pedestrian-injury-and-the-built-environment-an-environmental-1sqozmitu1.pdf

Pedestrian injury and the built environment: an environmental scan of hotspots

Documentation was done on the effect of a raised median, signalized and redesigned intersections, curbs, and sidewalks on vehicle speed, pedestrian exposure risk, driver predictability, and vehicle volume along a four-lane suburban roadway in central New Jersey. The analysis used both quantitative tools (speed and volume counts, timing runs) and qualitative methods (pedestrian tracking, video, before-and-after photography). The results are that the 85th-percentile vehicle speed fell by 2 mi/h and pedestrian exposure risk decreased by 28%. Also, the median allows pedestrians to cross one direction of traffic at a time and signals, curbs, median, redesigned intersections, and striping patterns work together to manage driver behavior. In regard to vehicles, it was found that vehicle volumes were not affected and that vehicle speeds acted independently of vehicle volumes. A collision analysis projected a savings of $1.7 million over the next 3 years in direct and indirect costs. The goal of the report was to produce a simple and straightforward analysis tool for similar projects in the area. Some of the benefits of roadway projects such as these can be quantified numerically, whereas others rely on qualitative analyses. For example, before-and-after speeds are easily gathered and compared, whereas before-and-after pedestrian behavior at the raised median requires a more in-depth approach made easier by digital cameras. Together, before-and-after data and before-and-after imaging present a more holistic picture of the benefits and limitations of a project.

Pedestrian Safety Through a Raised Median and Redesigned Intersections

This paper reports on a new planning tool called the visual assessment study that offers an alternative to the commonly-used visual preference survey. In visual presence surveys, citizens are shown a sample of scenes and asked to rate them on a preference scale. Scenes are then classified by type, and for each scene type, statistics are computed. Although results from these surveys may suggest that one scene type is preferred to another, they offer little further information. In the visual assessment approach, the authors use a hierarchical modeling technique to investigate what physical features or qualities distinguish main streets from other highways. This class of models is new to the planning field and is preferred when random effects are present and an outcome varies systematically in two dimensions, as do ratings of different scenes by different viewers. Main street stakeholders were shown photos and video clips of state highways and asked to score them on a "main street" scale. The authors then estimated a cross-classified random effects model using main street scores as the dependent variable, and characteristics of scenes and viewers as independent variables. This model can now be used to redesign certain highways to be more like main streets or to qualify certain highways for special treatment as main streets.

Turning Highways into Main Streets. Two Innovations in Planning Methodology

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Pedestrian Safety Through a Raised Median and Redesigned Intersections

Turning Highways into Main Streets. Two Innovations in Planning Methodology