Estimation of Effective Spatial Variables When Visiting Public Squares through Factor Analysis Model
Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 148, Issue 3
Abstract
In this paper, a new strategy based on the use of factor analysis (FA) with the varimax rotation technique was proposed to assess the effects of spatial variables on the visitation of nine typical public squares. These public squares are Times, Duomo, Oldtown, Red, Taksim, St. Peter’s, Grand Place, Trafalgar, and Rynek Glowny. This study aimed to measure the effect of the built environment on human choices and offer recommendations for more successful planning and design studies in cities. Data of the spatial variables were collected and processed by using a factor analysis model to extract the ranking of the effective spatial variables on the people’s choices who visit public squares. By applying the FA model, when considering the rotated loading factors, it was observed that the first factor accounting for 81.00% of the total variance would be sufficient to reveal the effectiveness order of spatial variables on the relevant public square’s visit. This study showed that the FA model could provide an opportunity to identify the most important variable affecting the human preference (or people choice) of a square and to create better planning and design ideas for squares. The results obtained from the FA application to spatial variables proved that the amount of green area within the square and the amount of green area surrounding the square are the most important variables affecting the people’s choice of a square.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
In the study, spatial data related to the squares were obtained using open access sources, Google maps, and Google my maps tools. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
References
Beck, H. 2009. “Linking the quality of public spaces to quality of life.” J. Space Manage. Dev. 2 (3): 240–248. https://doi.org/10.1108/17538330911013933.
Bentley, I., A. Alcock, P. Murrain, S. McGlynn, and G. Smith. 1985. Responsive environments: A manual for designers. Oxford, UK: Architectural Press.
Bernaldez, F. G., and F. Parra. 1979. “Dimensions of landscape preferences from pairwise comparisons.” In Proc., Conf. on Applied Techniques for Analysis and Management of the Visual Resource 256–263. Berkeley, CA: Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station.
Burley, J., G. Deyoung, S. Partin, and J. Rokos. 2011. “Reinventing Detroit: Reclaiming grayfields—New metrics in evaluating urban environments.” Challenges 2 (4): 45–54. https://doi.org/10.3390/challe2040045.
Child, D. 1990. The essentials of factor analysis. 2nd. ed. London: Cassell Educational Ltd.
Cilliers, E. J., and W. Timmermans. 2016. “Transforming spaces into lively public open places: Case studies of practical interventions.” J. Urban Des. 21 (6): 836–849. https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2016.1234336.
Dempsey, N. 2008. “Quality of the built environment in urban neighbourhoods.” Plann. Pract. Res. 23 (2): 249–264. https://doi.org/10.1080/02697450802327198.
Gaglione, F., C. Gargiulo, and F. Zucaro. 2019. “Elders’ quality of life. A method to optimize pedestrian accessibility to urban services.” TeMA—J. Land Use Mobility Environ. 12 (3): 295–312. https://doi.org/10.6092/1970-9870/6272.
Hopke, P. K. 1995. “Factor and correlation analysis of multivariate environmental data.” In Methods of environmental data analysis, edited by C. N. Hewitt, 139–180. London: Chapman & Hall.
Hotelling, H. 1933. “Analysis of a complex of statistical variables into principal components.” J. Educ. Psychol. 24 (6): 417–441. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0071325.
Howard, E. 1898. To-morrow: A peaceful path to real reform. London: Swan Sonnenschein.
Jacobs, A., and D. Appleyard. 1987. “Toward an urban design manifesto.” J. Am. Plann. Assoc. 53 (1): 112–120. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944368708976642.
Jolliffe, I. T. 2002. Principal component analysis. 2nd ed. New York: Springer.
Kaiser, H. F. 1958. “The varimax criterion for analytic rotation in factor analysis.” Psychometrika 23 (3): 187–200. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02289233.
Kim, K. W., and D. Kim. 2004. “Development of a neural network for the estimation of drivers’ route choice.” Int. J. Urban Sci. 8 (2): 131–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/12265934.2004.9693557.
Liu, C., and J. B. Burley. 2013. “Landscape evaluation criteria: Dispersed expectations.” In Proc., 6th WSEAS Int. Conf. on Landscape Architecture, 19–23. Nanjing, China: WSEAS.
Loudier, C., and J. L. Dubois. 2001. Public spaces: Between insecurity and hospitality, 20–25. Paris: Cahiers de l’IAURIF. Institut d’Aménagement et urbanisme de la Région d’Ile-de-France.
Lynch, K. 1984. Good city form. Cambridge, UK: MIT Press.
Mehta, V. 2014. “Evaluating public space.” J. Urban Des. 19 (1): 53–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2013.854698.
Ono, T., Y. Fujimoto, and S. Tsukamoto. 2012. “First-principles calculation methods for obtaining scattering waves to investigate transport properties of nanostructures.” Quantum Matter 1 (1): 4–19. https://doi.org/10.1166/qm.2012.1002.
Pearson, K. 1901. “LIII. On lines and planes of closest fit to systems of points in space.” London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philos. Magazine and J. Sci. 2 (11): 559–572. https://doi.org/10.1080/14786440109462720.
Pikora, T., B. Giles-Corti, and R. Donovan. 2001. “How far will people walk to facilities in their local neighbourhoods.” In Australia: Walking the 21st Century, 26–31. Perth, Australia: Transport Western Australia.
Rapoport, A. 2014. The mutual interaction of people and their built environment: A cross-cultural perspective. Berlin: Mouton.
Ruengtam, P. 2017. “Factor analysis of built environment design and management of residential communities for enhancing the wellbeing of elderly people.” Procedia Eng. 180: 966–974. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.04.256.
Shaftoe, H. 2008. Convivial urban spaces: Creating effective public spaces. London: Earthscan.
Soltani, A., and S. H. Hoseini. 2014. “An analysis of the connection between built environment, physical activity and health: Comparing three urban neighbourhoods from Shiraz, Iran.” Int. J. Urban Sci. 18 (1): 19–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/12265934.2013.874546.
Southworth, M. 2005. “Designing the walkable city.” J. Urban Plann. Dev. 131 (4): 246–257. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9488(2005)131:4(246).
Trip, J. J. 2007. What makes a city? Planning for “quality of place”: The case of high-speed train station area redevelopment Vol. 12. Amsterdam, Netherlands: IOS Press.
Weinstein, A. 1996. “Pedestrian walking behavior,” working paper, Univ. of California, Berkeley.
Wen, B., and J. B. Burley. 2020. “Expert opinion dimensions of rural landscape quality in Xiangxi, Hunan, China: Principal component analysis and factor analysis.” Sustainability 12 (4): 1316. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041316.
Wootton-Beard, P. C., Y. Xing, R. T. Durai Prabhakaran, P. Robson, M. Bosch, J. M. Thornton, G. Ormondroyd, P. Jones, and I. Donnison. 2016. “Review: Improving the impact of plant science on urban planning and design.” Buildings 6 (4): 48. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings6040048.
Zamanifard, H., T. Alizadeh, C. Bosman, and E. Coiacetto. 2019. “Measuring experiential qualities of urban public spaces: Users’ perspective.” J. Urban Des. 24 (3): 340–364. https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2018.1484664.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 148 • Issue 3 • September 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 23, 2021
Accepted: Jan 21, 2022
Published online: Apr 21, 2022
Published in print: Sep 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Sep 21, 2022
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.