Calibration and Validation of a Shared Space Model: a Case Study

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 paper builds on the authors’ previously published work where a shared space model was presented based on the Social Force Model (SFM). The calibration of this microscopic model was evaluated using data from a shared space link typology of New Road in Brighton (United Kingdom). Here, we collected and analysed data recorded from the shared space scheme of Exhibition Road, London (United Kingdom) which has the same typology. However, there is a higher flow and speed of cars and more segregation between pedestrians and cars on Exhibition Road. Data from pedestrian and vehicle movements and their interaction has been collected and analysed. The rule-based SFM for shared space modelling is calibrated and validated using the real data. Based on the results, it can be concluded that shared space schemes are context-dependent and factors such as the infrastructural design of the environment and the flow and speed of pedestrians and vehicles affect the willingness to share space.