FAQ about the study

what is the study duration?
Complete duration for every participant is 12 weeks


what should participant do during the study?
1. to carry a GPS device every day during 12 weeks
Participants have to carry GPS every day when they perform out of home activities: go to work/study, go shopping, meet friend, traveling around Netherlands, walking in a park, go to a cinema or a café, and etc.

2. to upload GPS tracers on a web application twice a week during 12 weeks
Participants have to download data from GPS device and upload data on the web application at least once a week. After uploading GPS data all data will be arranged in Agendas by day/moth/year. Participants should edit and confirm Agendas. It takes between 15-30 minutes to upload and confirm Agendas.

3. to fill an internet questioner – 3 times
Every participant will receive a link to the web questionnaire via mail. The web questionnaire is related to certain public locations in Eindhoven. Participants have to fill the same web questionnaire 3 times (at the beginning, in the middle and in the end of the study). It takes around 40-60 minutes to fill internet questioner.


how many meetings does study require?
Every participant will have 3 individual meetings.

1st meeting
duration 1.5-2.0 hour
1. computer -assisted interview (duration 40 min). Questions are related to participants’ socio-demographic situation and regular every day activities (work, shopping, sport, etc)
2. face-to-face interview (duration 20-30 min). Questions are related to individual knowledge about Eindhoven and way how participants experience Eindhoven.
3. explanation how to use GPS device and how to complete Agendas (duration 20-30 min).

2nd meeting (in 6 weeks)
duration 30-40 min
face-to-face interview. Questions are related to individual knowledge about Eindhoven and way how participants experience Eindhoven.

3rd meeting (in 12 weeks, in the end of the study)
duration 40-50 minutes
1. face-to-face interview. Questions are related to individual knowledge about Eindhoven and way how participants experience Eindhoven.
2. giving back GPS device and giving a feedback about the participation in the study


where meetings will take place?
Technical University Eindhoven
Vertigo Building (green building in front of Auditorium)
Department of Architecture, Building and Planning
Den Dolech 2, 5612 AZ Eindhoven
8 floor, office 8.16 (open space)
Interviews will be conducted by Anastasia Moiseeva


how will be meetings arranged?
All meeting will be scheduled via mail on time that is most convenient for participants. Participants receive information about 2nd and 3rd meetings 1 week before possible dates.
 

what kind of GPS device is used in the study?
Detailed information about the GPS device that used in the study can be found in previous post ‘GPS tracking’.


should I do something special for the study like traveling more in the Netherlands and outside the Netherlands?

can I travel outside the Netherlands during the participation in the study?
You don’t have to do something special for the study. Just live your normal life.
For the research purposes data about Eindhoven are needed, but you can travel around the Netherlands and as well outside the country. When you TRAVEL ABROAD please DO NOT TAKE GPS device with you.


can I post pictures and comment on the BLOG?
The idea of the Blog is to make your participation more informative.
Every participant is very welcome to contribute to the Blog. Your comments and posts will be very valuable. Participants who would like to post pictures, share information, opinions and create their own post will receive the access to the Blog. Please inform Anastasia Moiseeva if you want to receive a personal access to the Blog.


should I carry a camera every day and make pictures about Eindhoven?
You do not have to carry camera every day. But if you like and you want to share pictures with others, you are very welcome to post pictures on the Blog.


can I get a map with all visited location and trips which I made during the study?
Every participant will receive his/her own map with all visited location and trips after the study, NOT DURING THE STUDY, because of the study purpose. It might take around 5 weeks after the study to prepare a personal map for every participant.

GPS tracking

It is obvious that individuals’ spatial knowledge about urban environment is cumulative and comprehensive. Thus for understanding the complexity of one's spatial knowledge we are going to look how NEWCOMERS first exposed to an area learn about the urban environment over time, assuming that they start to learn from the ZERO point.

We consider that individuals’ spatial knowledge evolves over time as a function of activity-travel behaviours. To be able to capture these learning dynamics the best way is to collect data on individuals’ activity-travel patterns during several weeks.

If we want to collect data for several weeks it should not cost too much respondents burden. GPS technology allows collecting accurate spatial and temporal data on travel of vehicles and people for several weeks. In particular, GPS tracers provide information about the route taken, distance covered, time, speed, latitude and longitude. Additional data can be derived from GPS tracers such as visited location, used transport mode, trip duration, departure and arrival times.

Participants of the study carry GPS logger Bluetooth 747 A+ for 12 weeks. When participants travel in the city the GPS tracking data are continuously recorded in GPS logger memory every 3 second (latitude, longitude, speed and time).

We can not track you while you are travelling!
GPS logger records data off-line mode. Even though it can be called a tracking, we can only know the complete route when you download data by using the usb cable and upload a file on the website.

device characteristics
747 A+ logger features an all-in-one, cost-effective portable GPS logging solution. With its on-board memory, it allows you to log your routes by ways of time/ distance/ speed.

- operating time is more than 24 hours on single charge.
- charging time is about 3-4 hours
- semi indoor device that allows also collect data inside buildings
- 125.000 waypoints can be reordered





GPS appearance
1. DC jack (mini USB type)
2. Mode switch (Power off/ Navigation/ Navigation and log)
3. Bluetooth status LED (blue)
4. Battery status LED (red/green)
5. GPS status LED (orange) / Push to log LED (Red)
6. Internal GPS antenna
7. Push Button


package for every participant
1. 747A+ GPS Trip Recorder x 1 (40g)
2. USB to mini-USB cable x 1
3. Charger 110-240V

How Individuals LEARN and REMEMBER the City

One of the objectives of our study is to study how people learn about the city, in particular, what kind of knowledge, environmental images, beliefs and perceptions people form about the urban environment. These shape the individual's cognitive or mental map. In other words we are going to study individual's mental maps and how mental maps evolve over time.

Coined in 1948 by Edward C. Tolman, the term cognitive map refers to the internal mental representation of environmental information. The broadest definition of this term is an internal model of the world in which we live. Everybody possesses his/her mental map. A mental map reflects an individual's perspectives such as the individual's perception of, beliefs of, and preferences for different places.

It is logical that our mental maps are formed over time while we are learning about the environment, primarily trough travel experience and wayfinding. It explains variation in the nature of cognitive maps between individuals.

For example, people who are shopping oriented will have more detailed image about different shopping locations in a city while people who like regularly go out and visit bars will know all cool bars with best beers. Thus mental maps are dynamic, context dependent and differ from individual to individual.

On the basis of existing theories about the structure of the cognitive map we assume that mental representation contains hierarchically organised spatial knowledge about the urban environment including landmarks and nodes, routes, configurations of routes and locations. Urban planner and author Kevin Lynch, in his most famous work The Image of the City (1960), gives the following definition of nodes and landmarks.

'Nodes are points, the strategic spots in a city into which an observer can enter, and which are the intensive foci to and from which he is traveling. They may be primarily junctions, places of a break in transportation, a crossing or convergence of paths, moments of shift from one structure to another. …..'

'Landmarks are another type of point-reference, but in this case the observer does not enter within them, they are external. They are usually a rather simply defined physical object: building, sign, store or mountain... '

Geographers, urban planners and designers use mental maps of individuals to understand how people order the space around them. The maps can be collected by asking for directions to certain locations, by asking someone to draw a sketch map of an area of interest or by asking a person to name a certain location, etc.

For understanding how people learn and remember the city we are going to use some of these techniques and collect data about:
(i) individual's awareness of nodes and landmarks,
(ii) individual's awareness about location characteristics,
(iii) individual's knowledge about spatial distribution of certain locations.

By investigating mental maps over time, we can see changes in individual knowledge and gain insight into learning about their environment.

Study About Individual's Space-Time Behaviours in the City

the study

This study is designed to learn about the relationship between characteristics of the built environment and space-time behaviour of individuals.

Urban designers and planners attempt to create an urban environment that people find comfortable, can move around easily, and provides stimulation for participation in different activities. Research in urban planning and design and other related disciplines suggest that the relationship between the built environment and individual satisfaction and behaviours is strong than we think. We assume in the frame of this study that individuals possess beliefs about the environment that affect their urban life: it means that the urban environment does influence individual behaviours and poses constraints on these behaviors.

To understand the role of environmental perceptions on an individual's life, we can study people's space-time behaviours.

Where do people go (space)?
When do they go (time)?
How long do they stay there (time)?
What do they do there (behaviours)?
Why do they go there (behaviours)?

this study has following objectives:

1. to understand the way how individuals LEARN and REMEMBER the city
2. to understand individual's SATISFACTION and PREFERENCES toward certain public locations

the aim of our study is twofold:

on the one hand we are interested in the process of how people learn about the city and form their knowledge, ideas, images and beliefs about the city, through travelling and experience (through space-time behaviours). On the other how their knowledge, ideas and perceptions affect travel mode choice (i.e., car, bicycle, walk) and choice of activities.

for collecting data about individual's space-time behaviour the participant will carry a GPS logger when he/she performs out of home activities.
We can not track you in real time while you are travelling!

Your participation in the study will be very important for us! Your personal data and responses will be used for statistical and generalization purposes only and will not be identified with you. Data will be used to understand and analyse individual space-time behaviour in public urban spaces. The findings can lead to an improvement of design guidelines and the formalization of principles for space-time behaviour models that are used by planning authorities.