Publication

Pedestrian typologies - nuanced considerations of urban walking

Abstract

The analyses of urban environments, norms, micro-census and scientific studies reveal a variety of myths about pedestrians. One of them is the dominant representation of the pedestrian: A single person, usually with healthy body and in leisure mode. Pedestrians seem to be considered like cars, with fixed masses, limits and manoeuvrings. After qualitatif observation of more than 9’000 urban pedestrians, we propose more nuanced typologies which better reflect their different realities. A first typology refers to constraints, categorising elements reducing the pedestrian's degrees of freedom and opportunities. We identified three mains types of constraints: individual constraints having their source in the pedestrian’s body of long term (Type 1) and short or medium term (Type 2). The third type is the most common, but also the least considered in studies and urban realities: external and inter-individual constraints (Type 3). The second typology concerns the relation between the physical process of moving on two legs and the spatial and temporal environment, described as “gait” and divided into five classes, from “de-terminated” to “strolling”. A third typology refers to the number of people walking together, creating therefore different and usually invisible rules and codes of walking. Each of the types described has different requirements on public realm. An interdependence of use and exclusion can also be observed. Planning based on a pure measurement of the number of bodies cannot meet these requirements. Studies for the future use and allocation of public space, e.g. with regard to self-driving vehicles, should be based on these typologies, as they allow a better understanding of pedestrians and therefore increase predictability. These typologies enable also the development of indexes, to analyse effects of interventions in public space and to count absent users and usages.

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Related concepts (42)
Pedestrian
A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with the morphemes ped- ('foot') and -ian ('characteristic of'). This word is derived from the Latin term pedester ('going on foot') and was first used (in English language) during the 18th century. It was originally used, and can still be used today, as an adjective meaning plain or dull.
Pedestrian zone
Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in which most or all automobile traffic is prohibited. Converting a street or an area to pedestrian-only use is called pedestrianisation.
Pedestrian crossing
A pedestrian crossing (or crosswalk in American English) is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road, street or avenue. The term "pedestrian crossing" is also used in the Vienna and Geneva Conventions, both of which pertain to road signs and road traffic. Marked pedestrian crossings are often found at intersections, but may also be at other points on busy roads that would otherwise be too unsafe to cross without assistance due to vehicle numbers, speed or road widths.
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