4. APPLICATION
This research was initiated at TU Delft in 2005 as part of the
Spatial Metro project. Here GPS-tracking was introduced as a
method to evaluate the effectiveness of investments in public
space by observing and measuring behaviour of pedestrians visiting
the city centre. In 2007 research was carried out in the
historic city centres of Norwich (UK), Rouen (F) and Koblenz
(D) resulting in astonishing outcomes regarding behaviour of
tourists. Further, a pilot on households was initiated in three
specific districts of Almere (NL), showing the inefficiency and
incompetence of the frame (public space and infrastructure).
In 2009 over 300 pedestrians were tracked in the city centre of
Delft (see Fig. 1 & Fig. 2) and twenty households were tracked
in Rotterdam Charlois in the framework of Assisted Living.
This resulted in the definition of specific returning types of user
patterns.
In 2010 eighty people living in designated districts in Delft participated
(see Fig. 1). The research resulted in a good overview
of different user groups and their contribution to the city.