Shared space is an innovative streetscape design which seeks minimum separation
between vehicle traffic and pedestrians. Urban design is moving towards
space sharing as a means of increasing the community texture of street surroundings.
Its unique features aim to balance priorities and allow cars and pedestrians
to co-exist harmoniously without the need to dictate behaviour. There is, however,
a need for a simulation tool to model future shared space schemes and to
help judge if they might represent suitable alternatives to traditional street layouts.
This thesis presents a microscopic mathematical model to simulate pedestrians
and 4-wheeled motorised vehicles in shared space schemes. The complete development
of the model is addressed: mathematical formulation of three interrelated
layers based on the Social Force Model (SFM), software implementation,
calibration and validation using the case studies from New Road (Brighton) and
Exhibition Road (London).
Microscopic pedestrian, vehicle and mixed traffic models are reviewed and evaluated
with respect to their ability to reproduce behavioural phenomena, resulting
in the SFM being adopted as the most suitable basis for this thesis. The behavioural patterns of shared space users are analysed to identify specific manoeuvres
that need consideration. These patterns are realised in a three-layer
model: The first layer introduces the flood fill algorithm to define intermediate
destinations for agent’s path around obstacles to the final destination. The second
layer explains how the SFM is modified for pedestrians and vehicles. The third
layer describes conflict avoidance with minimal change of speed and direction.
The new mathematical model is calibrated and validated according to defined
performance indicators using real data from the two case study sites. The results
show that this model is suitable to simulate shared space users but that the physical
parameters depend on how a shared space scheme is realised compared to
the original philosophy. The achievements of this thesis can be beneficial to urban
planners and councils considering the implementation of a new shared space
scheme.