Abstract
In contemporary Chinese cities dynamic street vendors are a common presence, frequently occupying spaces where many people regularly walk, leading to functional changes to the streets. This research aim was to examine the everyday use of urban streets at a micro-scale, to explore spatio-temporal relations between the fixed built environment and the ways in which vendors and pedestrians co-produce walkable space and walking behaviours over time. Using field observation and behaviour mapping, we compared spatio-temporal data and spatial patterns of street activities over four daily periods of three urban street spaces in the medium-sized city of Yuncheng. The results indicate that such activities produce environment-behaviour interactions and sociospatial relations, which leads to an understanding of how city life occurs. The conclusions suggest that vending is important for giving life to urban areas and increasing residents’ physical activity, so that urban governors and designers should consider how to facilitate it better.
摘要
充满活力的街头小贩在现代中国城市中随处可见，但他们往往占据人们经常行走的空间，这导致了街道功能的转换。本文的研究目的是在微观尺度上观察城市街道的日常使用情况，探讨固定建筑环境与商贩、行人共同创造步行空间、步行行为的方式之间的时空关系。本文采用实地观察和绘制行为图相结合的方法，比较了中等城市运城三个城市街道空间在四个日常时段的街道活动时空数据和空间模式。结果表明，这些活动引发了环境与行为的相互作用以及社会空间关系，这让我们理解了城市生活是如何发生的。研究结论表明，街头小贩对于激活城市空间和增加居民身体活动具有重要意义，因此，城市管理者和设计师应该考虑如何更好的帮助街头小贩。