Quantitative Evaluation of Friendliness in Streets’ Pedestrian Networks Based on Complete Streets: A Case Study in Wuhan, China

Abstract

In recent years, with the rapid growth in the number of cars, the safe and convenient street pedestrian traffic network in cities has been broken by motor vehicle lanes. The pedestrian traffic function of streets as an important urban public space has been lost, and the pedestrian friendliness of streets needs urgent improvement. However, the existing pedestrian-friendly street space assessment has not yet formed a set of full-factor quantitative evaluation systems, making the construction of pedestrian-friendly streets still in the conceptual stage and lacking practical significance. The complete streets design concept clarifies the goal of street pedestrian space construction and proposes the full elements of street pedestrian space design, which provides important support for the construction of the street pedestrian friendliness evaluation system. Based on the complete streets design concept, this study constructs a complete set of quantitative evaluation systems of street walkability from three aspects of street space: traffic, environment and function. Meanwhile, a street pedestrian usability evaluation method is proposed to further explore the actual demand of streets. Combined with the comprehensive evaluation matrix of street pedestrian friendliness and usability, the areas where the planning of street pedestrian space does not match with the actual space are explored. The case study in Wuhan found that the overall pedestrian friendliness was high in the area, but there was significant variability. The study area is dominated by streets in need of improvement, with medium demand–low friendliness, and both the pedestrian friendliness and usability of the streets need to be improved.