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GI_Forum 2021, Volume 9, Issue 2
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
A-1011 Wien, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: verlag@oeaw.ac.at |
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DATUM, UNTERSCHRIFT / DATE, SIGNATURE
BANK AUSTRIA CREDITANSTALT, WIEN (IBAN AT04 1100 0006 2280 0100, BIC BKAUATWW), DEUTSCHE BANK MÜNCHEN (IBAN DE16 7007 0024 0238 8270 00, BIC DEUTDEDBMUC)
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GI_Forum 2021, Volume 9, Issue 2, pp. 242-250, 2021/12/28
As the COVID-19 crisis has forced people to adhere to social distancing, the proximity to each other of pedestrians on the sidewalk suddenly becomes meaningful: do pedestrians have enough space to safely move within cities? With decades of urban planning prioritizing roads and automobiles, the answer is ‘no’. Cities all over the world have been forced to make urgent changes to pedestrian infrastructure in order to make it safe for people to move about public spaces during the pandemic. In this study, using the sidewalk infrastructure from the Canadian city of Calgary as an example, we model sidewalk widths and then analyse the spatial patterns across the city. Our results reveal that Calgary's sidewalk widths vary substantially and form clusters of narrow sidewalks among residential zones, while wide sidewalks are typically found in downtown, and in some parks and recreational areas. We recommend that the City of Calgary, and all cities, re-evaluate their sidewalk and pathway development patterns, and upgrade sidewalk infrastructures in those narrow-sidewalk communities. By developing more robust methods for modelling and analysing sidewalk width, paired with adequate sidewalk data, cities can make informed decisions that lead to more inclusive, pedestrian-safe, cities.
Keywords: sidewalk width, pedestrians, accessibility, spatial pattern, health equity