A syntactic approach to identifying land-use influence on vehicular movement: the case of Lubbock

Abstract

The theory of unit-segment analysis has shown high competency in modeling vehicular movement networks only by using roadway accessibility embedded in urban morphology. Despite this advancement in space-syntax transportation research, some of the findings of the unit-segment analysis, at the theoretical level, have remained controversial especially in the academic community. One such controversy is the absence of land-use consideration in the analysis model. That is, how is it possible for a unit-segment analysis to predict urban vehicular movement with high accuracy when the analysis model does not even consider traffic information generated by various urban land uses? This study shows that unit-segment analysis, like other syntax models, is also capable of capturing land-use influence on vehicular movement. By using the case of Lubbock, a typical North American city in West Texas, the study produces extensive empirical evidence explaining that the land-use typology and development density of the city are the two key parameters that influence city traffic. Conclusions suggest that the accuracy in modeling urban vehicular movement networks with space syntax is expected to improve even further if these two parameters are introduced into the unit-segment analysis model.