Pedestrian environment is important for ease of mobility mainly in elderly people’s daily lives. The aim of this study is to evaluate pedestrian areas in the center of Tsukuba Science City in Ibaraki prefecture. Already 30 - 40 years have passed since the early city planning in 1960s, and infrastructure improvements are necessary.
This study was implemented by using data about pedestrian environment that was gathered by fieldwork: the length and width of footways, planting zones, the number of gaps between footways and roads, the number of poles that protect pedestrians from cars, lampposts, tactile paving, general condition of pavement, the number of traffics incidents, and the disposal of waste material. This study used Hayashi’s Quantification Theory III (multivariate analysis) to affirm the following factors to be considered when improving and constructing pedestrian environment: (1 ) the infrastructure of pedestrian areas, (2 ) the repairs of pavement, and (3 ) maintenance of footway fixtures.
For the purpose of this study, pedestrians are classified into 5 groups using cluster analysis and are also considered from spatial perspectives. Results show that pedestrian environment is influenced by the distance from the city centre and land use along the footways. Pedestrian environment is generally good around Tsukuba Station, but poor in peripheral areas. Some pedestrian areas need repairs as soon as possible, because some parts of pavement are deteriorating and some areas
are too dark due to the lack of lampposts. Lastly, improvements of pedestrian areas should be designed to be maintained easily for the cost considerations in the middle and long term as an implication of this study.
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