Microscopic Modeling of Pedestrian Movement in a Shida Night Market Street Segment: Using Vision and Destination Attractiveness

Research has shown that night markets play a positive role in improving urban sustainability. In Taiwan, many people go to night markets for leisurely strolling and to eat out with family and friends. The variety of food choices is a major reason for visiting. This preference and the shops’ locations affect not only how pedestrians move around but also the business of the night market. Pedestrian vision has been considered in only a minority of studies regarding pedestrian movement in shopping environments. Although some studies have focused on the impulse stops of pedestrians, few have considered “destination attractiveness” and its influence on surrounding shops. This paper aims to improve the pedestrian movement model in night markets with the incorporation of the “destination attractiveness” factor. The proposed microscopy agent-based model, implemented in NetLogo, uses “field of vision” as the possible destinations of the pedestrian’s next movement. Inside the “field of vision”, each shop competes for the pedestrian’s attention based on its “destination attractiveness”. The model’s parameter values were calibrated and the simulation results were verified with real-world observed data with good agreement. The proposed pedestrian movement model can benefit the retail sector by improving customer satisfaction and profitability by enhancing the layout of the facilities.