greater blanchardstown initiative - examination of urban permeability in the greater blanchardstown...
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A presentation on the Greater Blanchardstown Initiative (examination of urban permeability in the Greater Blanchardstown Area) given at the Compass Informatics Annual Conference in Dublin on 25th June, 2009TRANSCRIPT
Greater Blanchardstown Initiative:
An examination of urban permeability in the Greater Blanchardstown Area
Claire McIntyre and Ciarán Staunton
Fingal County Council
“To improve the quality of life for the people we serve”
• Housing• Transportation• Water Services• Planning• Environment• Waste Management• Economic Development• Community, Recreation &
Amenities
Fingal County Council
• Challenges– Expanding the role of
Local Government– Pace of growth– Complexity of growth– Demand for additional
services– Improving service delivery– Capped/falling staff
numbers
Fingal• Established in 1994 as a result of the
Local Government (Dublin) Act
• Fingal is sometimes known as “North County Dublin”
• It has a mix of outer suburbs of Dublin, large towns, smaller rural villages and rural hinterland
• It has 88km of coastline and borders Meath and Kildare (west), South Dublin (south) and Dublin City
• It is the 3rd most populous county in the state after Dublin City and Cork County
Population• Blanchardstown• Castleknock• Swords• Balbriggan• Skerries• Rush• Lusk• Donabate• Howth/Sutton/Baldoyle• Santry
The Task Council Management Team set a Terms of Reference:
• Examine the permeability of residential, commercial and industrial estates, with regard to physical barriers and design problems
• Verify the existence and coverage of public transport services and stops
• Consider community safety issues connected to permeability especially where safety conflicts, or is perceived to conflict, with permeability
• Analyse locations of key service points and how accessible they are
Definition: Permeability
Working Definition:
“Permeability should be understood as the relative ease with which people may get around and through various types of Urban Development.”
Project Description
• Permeability is the main concern• Focus on Blanchardstown, our biggest urban
area• Multidisciplinary project team: Engineering,
Planning, Architecture, Community Development, Heritage, Information Technology, Statistical Analysis
• GIS used as a modelling environment for all investigations decisions
Location Map
Long-term growth of Blanchardstown
114041
126403
142003
5017655600
71637
90974
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000
160000
1991 1996 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021
Permeability: The Challenge on the Ground
What do you see?
Vegetation disrupted and wall cap damaged
What do you see?
Vegetation disrupted and wall cap damaged
Gaps made in fence for shorter journeys
What do you see?
Vegetation disrupted and wall cap damaged
Gaps made in fence for shorter journeys
Improvised access across high wall
What do you see?
Vegetation disrupted and wall cap damaged
Gaps made in fence for shorter journeys
Improvised access across high wall
High difficulty climb
What do you see?
Vegetation disrupted and wall cap damaged
Gaps made in fence for shorter journeys
Improvised access across high wall
High difficulty climb
Wall capping removed
What do you see?
Vegetation disrupted and wall cap damaged
Gaps made in fence for shorter journeys
Improvised access across high wall
High difficulty climb
Wall capping removed
High wall disablespermeability
Definition: Desire Line
Working Definition:
“Desire Lines are indications of a demand for passage through an urban area. Generally they refer to pedestrian behaviour where passage is not ‘officially’ facilitated, or is prevented in some way but used nonetheless”
Policy Influence:Sustainable Communities
Sustainable Communities are places where people want to live and work, now and in the future. They meet the diverse needs of existing and future residents, are sensitive to their environment, and contribute to a high quality of life. They are safe and inclusive, well-planned, built and run, offer equality of opportunity and good services for all
Delivering Homes Sustaining Communities: Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government
In-depth study
(i) Community Survey
(ii) POWCAR (Census 2006)
(iii) Physical Data Capture
(iv) Public Transport Study (Bus)
• A community survey was required because we wanted to know how people on the ground perceived the
issues we are considering• Fieldwork carried out in May 2008 using doorstep interviews• Quota sample used• All respondents were aged 16+ living in the Blanchardstown area • In all, 583 surveys were carried out• Less than -/+ 1% margin of error
(i) Community Survey
Perception of Functional Levels in Area
(Q.16)
(Base: All Greater Blanchardstown Residents)
4212222823
4821
3749
302841
19441
10
2
4
5
1
15
3
3
9
2
2
34
3
Too many Too Few
Pedestrian Crossings
Roundabouts
Foothpaths
Foothpaths not adjacent to roadways
Alleyways
Streetlights & security cameras
School wardens
Traffic calming measures
Public transport links
Heavy/thick planting
Walls/fences
Cycle Lanes
Closed alleyways
Bus Gate
Just Right
55
54
76
70
69
49
77
48
50
65
68
57
71
55
CCTV and public transport links are prominent desires. Residents not seeing the advantages of Roundabouts over traffic lights at junctions.
(ii) Powcar 2006• Place of Work Census of Anonymised Records
• An analysis of POWCAR was necessary to learn about the behaviour especially commuting behaviour of the people in Blanchardstown
• Q31 and 32 on the Census form capture the location where people work and this is re-coded to – County and Electoral Division– Enumerator Area– Approximated grid of 250m x 250m
• We can also see SEX, SEG, INDUSTRY, MODE OF TRAVEL and ORIGIN
• We are lucky that Blanchardstown is covered by Enumerator Areas
Modes in BlanchardstownCar passenger
11%
Other5%
Not stated2%
On foot16% Bicycle
2%
Bus, minibus or coach14%
Car driver42%
Motorcycle or scooter1%
Train, DART or LUAS7%
Daily mode of transportation of persons 5 years and over
In-depth study
(i) Community Survey
(ii) POWCAR (Census 2006)
(iii) Physical Data Capture
(iv) Public Transport Study (Bus)
(iii) Physical Data Capture• Road & Footpath network
• Permeability FacilitatorsE.g. Bridges, walkways, street lights, pedestrian crossings
• Desire Lines
• Physical features which can prevent permeability E.g. heavy planting, walls & fences, closed alleyways
• Neighbourhood Level Services E.g. Schools, bring banks, playgrounds etc.
(iii) Physical Data Capture• Straight line Analysis Example
(iii) Physical Data Capture• Catchment Area along ‘formal’ network
(iii) Physical Data Capture• Catchment Area along ‘informal’ network
(iii) Physical Data Capture• Catchment area encompassing a number of houses
(iii) Physical Data Capture
PRD = Route Distance
Geodetic Distance
• Randals PRD (Pedestrian Route Directness)
(iii) Physical Data Capture• Randals PRD (Pedestrian Route Directness)
(iv) Public Transportation Module
ILTP study of existing public transport services and potential new services- a specialist transportation study was required
- objective to identify the priorities for new routes
Existing Buses
ILTP Proposed Buses
What we learned• GIS is a powerful tool for demonstrating and analysing physical
evidence of issues
• Permeability measures accessibility to a range of services helping us to decide about service locations in the future
• Combining sources of data: POWCAR, Location-based info., permeability calculations and community attitudes gives us greater insights into the reality and complexity of problems and challenges in Blanchardstown
• Interdepartmental, cross-disciplinary working enabled the team:– To have a more integrated understanding of real local problems– To appreciate that Departments have overlapping concerns and
challenges which can be resolved better by working together– To think strategically and co-operatively about how to affect change
Greater Blanchardstown Initiative:
An examination of urban permeability in the Greater Blanchardstown Area
Claire McIntyre and Ciarán Staunton