Role of new technologies on pedestrian walking behaviour research

Abstract

Walking behaviour has been considered one of the fundamental values of healthy, sustainable and liveable city concepts, various techniques for gathering, analysing and assessing data have been developed. More recently, new technologies have affected both individuals' walking experiences and how researchers assess walkability. Accordingly, traditional approaches have tended to be digitalized through technologies and systems such as Global Positioning System, Geographic Information System, video-based techniques, machine learning, laser scanning, Bluetooth, Radio Frequency Identification and so on. In this context, this research aims to understand the role of new technologies on pedestrian walking behaviour research for analysing/supporting walking behaviour.Through a literature review, the research firstly summarizes the literature on pedestrian behaviour in the public space, examining the potential and limitations of traditional tools. Secondly it analyzes studies examining pedestrian behaviour-walking-technology, to identify different types, general characteristics and interrelations of new technologies. By putting in relation the two domains, the paper reveals (1) the relations between technologies and traditional tools, (2) the role of these technologies in walking behaviour research and which of them are used to detect/assess/support specific walking variables and (3) limitations of these technological approaches. The results showed that technologies have different capacities in understanding walkability and collecting/measuring datasets. Usage of them depends on the scale and purpose; related studies often use them in an integrated form