Walkable London

Mar 25, 2019 Latest News

What can data tell about the effects of pedestrianization: fueling centralities and local economy or, otherwise, leading to inner periphery emergence and real estate degradation?

The presented analysis is the data-driven argument for the walkability increase in several areas in central London presented by Zaha Hadid Architects in collaboration with Habidatum. We compiled and processed urban data to study the interconnections of pedestrianization and socio-economic trends.

ZHA_WalkableLondon_Map

Fig. 1. Zones and avenues proposed to be pedestrianized.

Open data for human mobility (social media data) and business operations is used in order to compare happiness and activity, commercial density and diversity, and the length of pedestrian streets across London.

As a result, we found areas with high social and commercial activity but not many pedestrian streets. These places are supposed to have a strong basis for walkability as it is expected to increase people’s activity and support commercial development there. The performed data analysis helps assess the existing conditions of such locations and select the appropriate scope of pedestrianization to manage its future effects to enhance the growth of local centres.

Full analysis here.

For more details please visit the project's website.

This analysis is part of a series of publications resulting from FIABCI's partnership with Habidatum.

About Habidatum

Habidatum is a software and data analytics company, assisting policymakers and businesses in understanding the hyper-dynamic urban environment through advanced analytics of diverse data sources driven by machine learning and interactive visualization.

Habidatum operates as a gateway between the professional communities who require data-driven insights and data carriers.

The company was founded in 2014 by a collaboration between professional urban planners and digital designers. Since 2014, the company has worked in more than 20 cities globally including London, New York, Moscow, Dubai, Singapore, Pune, Denver, and Miami.