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Pedestrian-friendly cities are gaining traction worldwide. This study focused on sidewalk width and green space designs that comprise the walking environment. This study examined uniform planting patterns made without considering the width of the sidewalk and derived an appropriate green area pattern created according to the width of the sidewalk. We conducted a survey using virtual reality, satisfaction and preference review, and multilinear regression analysis. The results showed that ensuring safety through planting on a narrow sidewalk with a width of less than 3 m and 3 m to 5 m had a higher effect on satisfaction, while places with sufficient shade environments had an effect on overall satisfaction for a sidewalk width of 5 m to 8 m or more. The green spots were not quite preferred; on the contrary, there was a popular opinion that many green spots felt stuffy. This study is meaningful in that it identified the reason for appropriate planting plans, according to the width of the sidewalk, by applying the changing traffic paradigm, and conducted the study from the perspective of pedestrians. In addition, this study demonstrated the possibility of using virtual reality in the planning of smart cities, by applying a new research methodology using VR to visualize tasks that are difficult to perform in reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study empirically examines the adequacy of sidewalk widths in Auckland’s Central Business District in light of increasing active mobility and sustainable urban planning trends. Recognising the need to retrofit street spaces to prioritise pedestrians, we aim to determine whether current sidewalk dimensions meet the diverse requirements of users. We analysed average sidewalk widths and developed four mobility metrics – inflow and outflow travel distance, and density of visitors and locals – using a large-scale mobile location dataset comprising 113 million data points from 1.4 million users. These metrics, reflecting urban vibrancy and sidewalk use, were correlated with sidewalk widths to assess their adequacy. Furthermore, we applied cluster analysis to these mobility metrics, along with the diversity of Points of Interest, to categorise sidewalk segments, uncovering intricate usage patterns. Our findings indicate that sidewalks typically range from 2 to 5 m, catering to varied urban needs. Notably, we observed no direct correlation between sidewalk width and mobility patterns, but significant differences in inflow and outflow travel distances were evident, especially between key urban hubs and quiet residential neighbourhoods. Moreover, we identified seven distinct sidewalk categories, each reflecting unique qualities, suggesting that uniform widths do not define sidewalk utility or character. This highlights the need to rethink current capacity-focused sidewalk design, advocating for a nuanced approach that addresses the intricate demands of urban spaces. Our methodology offers flexibility and can be tailored to suit different urban contexts, providing a versatile tool for urban analysis and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedestrian-friendly cities are gaining traction worldwide. This study focused on sidewalk width and green space designs that comprise the walking environment. This study examined uniform planting patterns made without considering the width of the sidewalk and derived an appropriate green area pattern created according to the width of the sidewalk. We conducted a survey using virtual reality, satisfaction and preference review, and multilinear regression analysis. The results showed that ensuring safety through planting on a narrow sidewalk with a width of less than 3 m and 3 m to 5 m had a higher effect on satisfaction, while places with sufficient shade environments had an effect on overall satisfaction for a sidewalk width of 5 m to 8 m or more. The green spots were not quite preferred; on the contrary, there was a popular opinion that many green spots felt stuffy. This study is meaningful in that it identified the reason for appropriate planting plans, according to the width of the sidewalk, by applying the changing traffic paradigm, and conducted the study from the perspective of pedestrians. In addition, this study demonstrated the possibility of using virtual reality in the planning of smart cities, by applying a new research methodology using VR to visualize tasks that are difficult to perform in reality.

Space, and in particular public space for movement and leisure, is a valuable and scarce resource, especially in today's growing urban centres. The distribution and absolute amount of urban space-especially the provision of sufficient pedestrian areas, such as sidewalks-is considered crucial for shaping living and mobility options as well as transport choices. Ubiquitous urban data collection and today's IT capabilities offer new possibilities for providing a relation-preserving overview and for keeping track of infrastructure changes. This paper presents three novel methods for estimating representative sidewalk widths and applies them to the official Viennese streetscape surface database. The first two methods use individual pedestrian area polygons and their geometrical representations of minimum circumscribing and maximum inscribing circles to derive a representative width of these individual surfaces. The third method utilizes aggregated pedestrian areas within the buffered street axis and results in a representative width for the corresponding road axis segment. Results are displayed as city-wide means in a 500 by 500 m grid and spatial autocorrelation based on Moran's I is studied. We also compare the results between methods as well as to previous research, existing databases and guideline requirements on sidewalk widths. Finally, we discuss possible applications of these methods for monitoring and regression analysis and suggest future methodological improvements for increased accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]