Page 35 - JCAU-5-3

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Walkability evaluation of Beijing Old Town

Figure 3. Part of the street scenes. Source: Baidu Map open platform

in more detail and measures the continuity and aspect 2.3.4. Evaluation of virtual audit method
ratio on both sides of the street from different walking Index calculation of street skeleton and image pixel
directions. At the street-style level, the protection index recognition of street facilities cannot fully reflect the street
of traditional style is supplemented to represent the street style. Therefore, to better study the relationship between
characteristics of the old city. To evaluate the walkability of the quality and walkability of streetscape elements, the
old city streets, we chose street interface, street facilities, virtual audit method was used to evaluate the street-style
and street style as the three primary indexes to evaluate level, building quality, the degree of street maintenance
Beijing streets. Based on human walking and usage scale, management, and the degree of traditional style protection.
13 secondary evaluation indicators were constructed. The Audit is a measurement method that combines expert
specific concept and acquisition methods of indicators are knowledge and common sense around the theoretical
shown in Table 1.
framework (Clifton et al., 2007). Due to the professional
2.3.2. Street skeleton evaluation model evaluation of relevant indicators, 20 undergraduates with
urban and rural planning and landscape architecture
The degree of street wall continuity and the street aspect background scored 254 street scene pictures in the
ratio are calculated according to both sides of the street, experiment, and the average scoring result was the last data
respectively, as shown in Figure 4. Since walking can only of this index.
be done on one side of the street, one could experience the
different sensations after having walked on both sides of 2.4. Walkability evaluation experiment
the street due to the different interfaces from a walking Based on the Hierarchical Needs Theory, street walkability
perspective. The data on both sides of the street were
obtained and calculated using the street skeleton rating is divided into three aspects: sense of security, comfort,
model developed by Chester Wallag Harvey in New York and aesthetic perception. The sense of security is the
and Boston (Harvey, 2014). most basic guarantee of the street, while the comfort
emphasizes the use function and walking experience of
2.3.3. Pixel recognition the street, and the aesthetic perception emphasizes the
visual self-satisfaction of pedestrians. After interviews
First, the image semantic recognition software provided and surveys with more than 100 participants, 45 effective
by the CUG.HPSCIL laboratory was used to identify the and complete subjective evaluations of walkability were
initial elements of the image, and then Adobe Photoshop
CC was used to manually identify and revise the indicators obtained, of which two-thirds were evaluated by students
of street furniture, and then the elements of street furniture with a major in this field, and the rest were by urban
were calculated according to the proportion of index pixels residents aged 18 – 45.
in the fixed-point street view. As shown in Figure 5, the A total of 254 street-scene pictures were divided into
ratio of indicator pixels to image pixels was used as the three groups according to numbering. Each group included
final data of this indicator. 85 pictures, which were distributed to the students and city

Volume 5 Issue 3 (2023) 4 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.1033