Measuring Urban Streetscapes for Livability: A Review of Approaches

Abstract

Increasing interest in urban livability demands that geographers and planners more precisely define what constitutes a livable streetscape, a fundamental building block of urban places. Widespread examination of streetscape livability will require precise and efficient measurements of (1) physical characteristics at the spatial scale of individual streetscapes and (2) indicators of experiential quality based on revealed behavior or stated preference. This article reviews approaches to collecting both types of measurements, showing that innovative methods using geographic information systems (GIS), Internet-enabled surveys, and even social media could be useful complements to traditional qualitative methods for collecting streetscape measurements.

对城市可居住性的兴趣逐渐增加, 故需地理学者和规划者更为确切地定义什麽组成了适合居住的街景, 此则为城市地方的基础构件。对街景可居住性进行广泛的检视, 需要确切且有效的度量： (1) 各别街景在空间尺度的物理特徵, 以及 (2) 根据揭露的行为或宣称的偏好之经验素质指标。本文回顾搜集两种度量的方法, 展现运用地理信息系统 (GIS)、互联网激活的调查、甚至是社群网站之创新方法, 都可能对搜集街景度量的传统量化方法提供有益的补充。

El interés creciente que existe sobre la habitabilidad urbana exige que geógrafos y planificadores definan de manera más precisa lo que constituye un paisaje de calle tolerable, una construcción fundamental de los lugares urbanos. El examen generalizado de la habitabilidad del paisaje callejero requerirá mediciones precisas y eficientes de (1) las características físicas a la escala espacial de estos paisajes individualizados, y (2) indicadores de la calidad experiencial con base en el comportamiento revelado o preferencia declarada. Este artículo revisa los enfoques para coleccionar ambos tipos de medidas, mostrando que los métodos innovadores que usan sistemas de información geográfica (SIG), estudios habilitados a través de Internet, e incluso los medios sociales, podrían ser complementos útiles de los métodos cualitativos tradicionales para obtener medidas del paisaje callejero.

Key Words:

• built environment
• GIS
• livability
• streetscape
• urban design

关键词:

• 建成环境, 地理信息系统, 可居住性, 街景, 城市设计。

Palabras clave:

• entorno construido, SIG, habitabilidad, paisaje callejero, diseño urbano

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chester Harvey

CHESTER HARVEY is a Research Specialist at the Transportation Research Center at the University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405. E-mail: [email protected]. His research focuses on the effects of urban and transportation planning on human well-being.

Lisa Aultman-Hall

LISA AULTMAN-HALL is a Professor in the School of Engineering at the University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05401. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research focuses on collection and use of innovative travel data to study long distance travel, accessibility, livability, climate adaptation, and resiliency.