Experimenting the Impact of Pedestrianisation on Urban Pollution Using Tangible Agent-Based Simulations: Application to Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam

Abstract

The development of permanent or temporary pedestrian areas, whether for leisure or to decrease air pollution, has become an integral part of urban planning in numerous cities around the world. Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, began to implement its first area, around the iconic Hoan Kiem lake, a few years ago. In most of cases, however, road closure is likely to deport traffic to nearby neighbourhoods with the consequences of intensifying congestion and, possibly, increasing air pollution in these areas. Because this outcome might appear counter-intuitive to most stakeholders, it is becoming more and more necessary to analyse, assess and share the impacts of these developments in terms of traffic and pollution shifts before implementing them. In this project, we used the GAMA platform to build an agent-based model that simulates the traffic, its emissions of air pollutants, and the diffusion of these pollutants in the district of Hoan Kiem. This simulation has been designed so as to serve either as a decision support tool for local authorities or as an awareness-raising tool for the general public: thanks to its display on a physical 3D model of the district, people can effectively and naturally interact with it at public venues. Although more accurate data and more realistic diffusion models are necessary and will need further research in the future, the simulation is already able to reflect traffic and air pollution peaks during rush hours, allowing residents and developers to understand the impact of pedestrianization on air quality in different scenarios.