Capturing daily urban rhythms: the use of location aware technologies

Abstract

Daily activities and travel often follow a natural rhythm or flow that is structured by the fixed spatial and temporal constraints. The work and home location act as pegs that define individual’s activity space and it is within these spaces that activities and travel behaviour are believed to be habitual and recurring. Aggregating such individual behaviour leads to so-called daily urban rhythms. Knowledge of these daily urban rhythms is important as they are indicative of temporal and spatial user demand, that is transport or land use demand. Furthermore, knowledge of where individuals are during the various times of the day is vital for emergency planning or disaster management. While emergency evacuation is often focussed on the residential areas, this might not be where people find themselves during the day. This paper reports on a proof-of-concept study which tracked a sample of individuals over a two day period making use of their personal cell phones. The result of the research shows that cell phone records allow planners and researchers to obtain a dynamic motion picture of collective behaviour.