Walkability in Amsterdam

More space for the mother of all modes of transport

Eric de Kievit | Senior Advisor Transport & Traffic Research | Mobility & Public Space

Johan Olsthoorn | Researcher | Mobility & Public Space

Manchester, Thursday November 22th, 2018

Residents find there is too little space forpedestrians in city centre

Survey on pedestrians and public space, 2016

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A rapidly changing city

Forecast population

Forecast jobs

Development and forecast population and employment, Amsterdam 2016 (source: OIS, PBL/CBS)

Population

Amsterdam’s population increasingtowards 1 million inhabitants in 2030

Tourism: The number of hotel stayscontinues to increase

Number of tourists per 1000 inhabitants

2015

8.3

10

8.5

61

9.7

48

9.7

25

10

.56

4

11

.26

2

12

.53

8

12

.89

8

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Number of hotel overnights (x1.000), 2008-2015

Above this growth in hotel bookings also736.000 Airbnb-overnights (2015) Source ATB (left) and EuroStat (right)

Crowds, narrow sidewalks and obstaclesresult in poor walkability

Pedestrians forced to dodge obstacles or to walk on road

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Pedestrian policy started off withdefining a main pedestrian network

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Little known about state and use of main pedestrian network

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How can we analyse and map out thestate and use of the main pedestriannetwork, using existing data?

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Effective walking space Pedestrian demand

Walkability scores

wide

narrow

Walkability:Effective walking space and Pedestrian demand

high

low

high

low

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Effective walking space:Sidewalk width, obstacles and bicycle parking

pressure

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Pedestrian space in national registry forlarge scale topography

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Pedestrian space(obstacles at Café Winkel)

Obstacles included

◼ Bicycle racks◼ Street furniture◼ Greenery◼ Shop displays◼ Terraces

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Residual sidewalk width

Bicycle parking pressure of bikes parkedon sidewalk outside of racks

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3

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Effective walking space

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Pedestrian demand:Datasets reflecting presence of pedestrians in

public space

◼ Residents◼ Jobs◼ Functions (schools, shops, business)◼ Students◼ Visitors to cultural institutions◼ Boarding and alighting passengers

at public transport stops

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Pedestrian demand

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Loopruime

Walkability:Effective walking space and Pedestrian demand

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CeintuurbaanEffective walking space= widePedestrian demand = very highWalkability = moderate

UtrechtsestraatEffective walking space= very narrowPedestrian demand = very highWalkability = poor

RoetersstraatEffective walking space = widePedestrian demand = highWalkability = moderate

WibautstraatEffective walking space = very widePedestrian demand = very highWalkability = good

Clear visual of Walkability

Results applied to give more public spaceto pedestrians

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Round-Up Walkability analysis

◼ Accurate:– supply and demand of effective walking space– Combining many detailed datasets

◼ Clear visualisation:– summary of results per sidewalk

◼ Useful:– Results applied to policy making to give more public space to the

mother of all nodes: walking!!

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