Development of a Comprehensive Walking Path System

in Hong Kong

Lilian S. C. Pun-Cheung

Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,

Hunghom, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong

Keywords: Walkability, GIS, Pedestrian, Network Analysis.

Abstract: Walkability has been defined as the extent to which the urban environment is pedestrian friendly. This

article presents a case in Hong Kong of how to develop a walking path system to enable users to choose a

pedestrian-friendly route. It is found that different details of land configuration can result in varying paths.

Such differences can be significant in contributing not only to an accurate system, but also in convincing

and stimulating people to walk more according to their own preference.

1 INTRODUCTION

Walking is a significant transportation mode, and all

human beings are pedestrians for varying time

periods on roads (Gota et al., 2010). People have to

walk for some distances, even when they use

motorized transport. Previous studies have shown

that public transit users, on average, make at least

four walking trips per day (Centre for Science and

Environment, 2009).

In recent years, there has been increasing

emphasis on environmental and policy initiatives in

public health to promote walking activity. Walking

is both a means and an indicator to combat global

epidemics of non-communicable chronic diseases

(NCDs) and overweight (Sallis et al., 2012).

Walking can also be considered the basis of the

sustainable city, providing social, environmental and

economic benefits (Forsyth and Southworth, 2008;

Moura et al., 2017).

Walkability has been defined as the extent to

which the urban environment is pedestrian friendly.

The idea of walkability is that people should become

more active in walking in open urban environments

(Moura et al., 2017). Pedestrian safety, comfort, and

convenience are three elements taken into

consideration for walkability assessment (Loo and

Lam, 2012). A typical walkability assessment tool is

essential, which allows different variables and their

relative weights to vary in order to yield meaningful

analysis. Recent literature has demonstrated a range

of scoring or checklist methodologies to assess the

walkability, which enable city planners to audit

communities and routes and identify the isolated

neighbourhoods to improve walkability (Su et al.,

2017).

Geographic information system (GIS) is a

collection of spatial data plus the corresponding

functions for storage and retrieval, using algorithmic

and functional tools to model spatial relationships

and spatial reconnaissance (Bartelme, 2012). GIS

can be used to assess pedestrian environment that

may have impacts on walkability. Nowadays, people

are used to search for effective walking routes

through Internet and user-friendly Web-based GIS

applications such as Google Maps, Baidu Maps, and

Microsoft Bing Maps. However, computing and

suggesting a pedestrian-friendly walking route is a

challenge due to the complexity and diversity of

walking path attributes. Although analysis of route

paths has been widely used in GIS applications, the

integration of various factors (i.e. pedestrian flow,

green area, width, brightness, covered area,

airconditioner, air pollution) with the analysis of

route path is still lacking in the GIS arena (Lwin and

Murayama, 2013).

This article presents the development of a

walking path system using Central District in Hong

Kong as a case study to enable users to choose a

pedestrian-friendly route.

Pun-Cheng, L.

Development of a Comprehensive Walking Path System in Hong Kong.

DOI: 10.5220/0006785505010506

In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Vehicle Technology and Intelligent Transport Systems (VEHITS 2018), pages 501-506

ISBN: 978-989-758-293-6

501

2 STUDY AREA AND

METHODOLOGY

Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated

city in the world with compact and layered urban

structure, mixed land use, and heavy reliance on

public transport (Ng et al., 2016). Researches

indicated that Hong Kong is a highly walkable city

(Kriken et al., 2010; Gota et al., 2010). Through

pedestrian-based connections and efficient

transportation network, facilities are within easy

reach (Lau et al., 2005). Besides, Hong Kong is a

three-dimension city, with streets and walkways at

multiple levels, above and below ground level, as

shown in Figure 1 (Frampton et al., 2012). However,

Hong Kong pedestrians tend to be unfamiliar with

neighbourhood’s pedestrian environment, and less

likely to try different routes, which may be due to

the lack of route choice or attracted built

environment (Guo and Loo, 2013).

Figure 1: Hong Kong is a three-dimension city (Frampton

et al., 2012).

Both government and non-government

organizations (NGOs) have taken efforts on

improvements of pedestrian environment and

walking efficiency, to make the city smarter and

more liveable. For example, the Government has

fostered the concept of “Walk in HK” under a

coordinated strategy, including four themes, namely

“Make it smart”, “Make it connected”, “Make it

enjoyable” and “Make it safe”, aiming to develop

Hong Kong into a walkable city. An app to plan and

search for the best walking routes in Causeway Bay

as a pilot has also been developed to echo with the

Chief Executive's 2017 Policy Address. A local

think tank named Civic Exchange developed a

walkability measurement tool CEx WALKScore

with assessment checklists, and four neighbourhoods

(Central, Mong Kok, Kwun Tang, Choi Hung) were

selected to conduct walk audits (Ng et al., 2016). A

similar study had been conducted by Ng et al. in

2012, in which four local districts (Central, Tsim

Sha Tsui, Mong Kok, Ma On Shan) were chosen as

examples to create a system on how to assess each

route. Another NGO named Walk DVRC Ltd.,

promotes an urban planning model that gives

pedestrians and trams priority over other vehicular

traffic, for a more walkable and liveable Central

Business District (CBD) that begins with the

revitalisation of a decaying Des Voeux Road

Central.

The aim of this study is to provide a

comprehensive review and scientific analysis of

walkability in Hong Kong. To assess walkability,

GIS will be used to geovisualize varying urban

environmental attributes. Spatial network analysis is

performed to model and simulate the characteristics

of each link associated with diverse attributes.

Most street network data are readily available

from existing official sources from the Transport

Department (TD), MTR station maps, HK

Tramways Interactive Map, GeoInfo Map from the

Lands Department as well as Google Maps.

However, many of these do not cover minor narrow

streets, indoor and underground paths. These are

then supplemented by field survey. Each path

segment as denoted from junction to junction is

demarcated as belonging to one of the following

types – along vehicular roads, crosswalk, footbridge,

subway, escalator, staircase and lift. Path attributes

like pedestrian flow, traffic flow, degree of

greenness, width, brightness, covered, air-

conditioning and so on are defined. Table 1 shows

the data and sources, description of data, and

purpose to use in the project.

To create a walking path network database,

edges (line features) and nodes (point features) are

defined. Edges are basic elements in network to

represent each walking path segment. Nodes are the

intersections at points of edges. All elements are

properly connected in topological structure. The

permitted directions of route are determined by

assigning values to restrictions. Impedance is

defined to measure resistance of finding walking

paths. This parameter can be user-defined such as

time, distance, and greenness. Link impedance is the

amount of resistance that one has to overcome to

travel origin-destination (OD) pairs, while node

impedance is the resistance for travelling through an

intersection, such as traffic light.

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502

Table 1: Data, descriptions, and applications of their use.

Data and

Source

Description Purpose

Administrative

Boundary (TD,

HKSAR)

(i) administrative

boundary

including name,

coordinate, feature

type; (ii) polygon

in an ESRI

shapefile

(i) to create a

database of

building address;

(ii) to find

desirable and

available place;

(iii) to perform an

address search

Transport Stop

(TD, HKSAR)

(i) transport name,

type, coordinate;

(ii) point in an

ESRI shapefile

(i) to create a

database of

transport stops;

(ii) to perform an

analysis of

walking distance

from transport

stop to destination

Road Dataset

(TD, HKSAR)

(i) road name,

type, coordinate,

data level; (ii)

polygon in an

ESRI shapefile

(i) to build a road

network model;

(ii) to calculate

walkability score

by building zone

Walking Line

(Field Audit)

(i) Walking path

name, type,

coordinate, data

level, attributes

including

pedestrian flow,

traffic flow, green

area, width,

brightness,

covered area, air-

conditioner, travel

time; (ii) polyline

in an ESRI

shapefile

(i) to build a

walking path

network; (ii) to

measure network

distances between

a user-defined

point and

locations of

destinations; (iii)

to analyse

walkability for

each path

segment; (iv) to

perform an

analysis of route

based on

pedestrian choice

Vertical Lane

(Field Audit)

3 CASE STUDY

A detailed analysis of the pedestrian environment

can help improve and increase the walkability of a

city. Central District is a representative and good

example as it encompasses varying environments

and is a busy working district where environments

need to be improved to stimulate people walking for

a longer distance and time. To be specific, the study

area of about 0.8 km² is sandwiched between

Queen's Road Central and Central Ferry Piers.

Streets include major arterials (e.g. Queen’s Road

Central, Des Voeux Road Central), and quiet alleys

(e.g. Man Yee Lane, Theatre Lane). It is considered

as a walkable district, with very good connectivity

and accessibility. In total, 729 walking path

segments and 79 links to different vertical levels

have been digitized. It is also well served by public

transportation, with a total number of 128 stops of

different modes including MTR exits, tram, bus,

ferry and taxi (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Network Lines in Central by ArcGIS.

The database has following advantages: (i) more

paths (i.e. footbridge, escalator, across commercial

buildings) are named; (ii) more routes (i.e. across

parks/blocks) are established; (iii) detailed attributes

(i.e. path name).

This area is predominantly commercial with

predominantly high rise office buildings, shopping

centres, public buildings, hotels, stores, bars, parks.

People may go from one place to another without

ever having to leave a continuous network of

elevated or underground pedestrian passageways and

interconnected malls and office lobbies as shown in

Figure 3 (Frampton et al., 2012).

Figure 3: Three Dimensional Drawings of the Elevated

Walkways in Central Area (Frampton et al., 2012).

Development of a Comprehensive Walking Path System in Hong Kong

503

Multiple walking routes are possible between

each pair of origin and destination. However, not all

pedestrian paths are well connected or designed,

such as dead-end streets, narrow paths along driving

road. Figure 4 shows a walking path along

Queensway for the tram stop ‘Johnston Road (Luard

Road)’, which was captured from Google Map. The

path is narrow with no fence between walking path

and driving road.

Figure 4: Walking Path along Queensway for Tram Stop

‘Johnston Road (Luard Road)’.

4 PRELIMINARY RESULT

In this research, ‘Network Analyst’ function in

ArcGIS is performed to select the best route. Take

quickest route for example, ‘Time Cost’ is used as

restriction attribute that functions as an impedance

over the network (Figure 5). Given information

about travel time for each walking path segment,

spatial network analysis determines the quickest

route between each OD pair based on optimization

algorithm.

Figure 5: ‘Time Cost’ is used as restriction attribute that

functions as impedances over the network.

Random OD pairs have been selected to generate

quickest route in our system, and results are

compared with Google Map. Figure 6 and Figure 7

shows a route from ‘Cheung Kong Park’ to ‘Central

Government Pier’, using our system and Google

Map respectively. It is clear that our database has

resulted in a more detailed and accurate route due to

more paths (i.e. footbridge, escalator, across

commercial buildings) and associated attributes.

Figure 6: Route from ‘Cheung Kong Park’ to ‘Central

Government Pier’ in our system.

Figure 7: Route from ‘Cheung Kong Park’ to ‘Central

Government Pier’ in Google Map.

In another example, Google Map roughly models

walking paths surrounding ‘Edinburgh Place’

(Figure 8), while our route is more detailed (Figure

9). Those detailed routes point out the merits and

demerits of pedestrian environment, which allow us

to identify district-specific and common walkability

issues, raise public awareness, seek for solutions

with a view to improving walkability in Hong Kong.

These routes have also been verified by commuters

in the region as to the path segments they actually

walk on. To promote walking, a system enabling

multiple criteria route finding is crucial to let users

understand where and how they should walk

according to their own preference. One may choose

a fastest while others may choose a safer or more

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504

leisurely or less polluted route. To examine the

degree to which each path segment can contribute to

the selected criterion, a walkability score could be

calculated as a weighted factor for each path

segment.

Figure 8: Route along ‘Edinburgh Place’ in Google Map.

Figure 9: Route along ‘Edinburgh Place’ in our system.

5 CONCLUSION

To develop a genuine multiple criteria navigation

system for walking, a detailed investigation and

quantification of varying environmental variables is

deemed necessary. With this, we believe people are

more stimulated to consider walking as a habit in

their everyday activities, and for tourists who would

like to explore the city better.

Apart from an accurate and updated spatial

database of paths and attributes, an agreement of

ranking / weighting varying environmental factors is

also important. Many concepts such as safe, leisure,

healthy are rather subjective and further studies on

human reception and behaviour are needed to

develop a system of generally agreeable standards.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The work described in this paper was supported

substantially by a grant from the Research Grant

Council of the Hong Kong SAR Government

(Project No. B-Q43R) and Internal Research Grants

of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Project

No. G-YN99 and 1-ZE24).

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