Public spaces are used to walk (and cycle) but also to spend time there. The challenge is how to measure the number of people walking and staying in public spaces based on still and moving images. There is hardly any data or methodologies for this available yet. Two image sources are provided if you are interested to help resolving these two questions/challenges:

1) How to count the number of people staying in public spaces, for example on Sechseläutenplatz in Zurich or on Jesuiten-/Theaterplatz in Lucerne. Thanks to the public webcams there are images taken every 10 minutes all day long. How is the space used by people over a day and how does this possibly relate to weather data?

2) How to analyse the density of people and their movements based on video images. Background is the fact that large numbers of visitors/tourists may lead to problems in the urban environment, e.g. at traffic lights. Video recordings were made this summer at Schwanenplatz in Lucerne to document pedestrian flows and densities. How can critical moments regarding safety and comfort be determined based on these images?

The video footage and links to the still images as well as further information (pdf) are provided via the source page below.

We look forward to your results! Thank you for your interest!