By utilizing "people flow data," it becomes possible to objectively and efficiently understand the behavior of visitors and the spatial characteristics of people's movements!

In the study of events and festivals, utilizing "people flow data" makes it possible to objectively and efficiently understand the behavior of visitors and the spatial characteristics of people's movements!

Could you please give me an overview of your research?

Aichi University, established in 1946 in Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture, is a university founded on the principle of harmonizing regional and international aspects. The "Research Center for San-En-Nanshin Regional Collaboration, Aichi University,Japan." has been promoting various regional studies and GIS (Geographic Information System) research since its establishment, particularly focusing on San-En-Nanshin region, which is the border area of Aichi, Shizuoka, and Nagano prefectures.

This time, we focused on utilizing "people flow data" in our research on festivals and events conducted by the "Research Center for San-En-Nanshin Regional Collaboration, Aichi University,Japan.."

While research on events and festivals has primarily focused on their form, meaning, and mechanisms of operation and transmission, I have begun a new research approach that targets the attributes and behaviors of participants and spectators.

In our research, we attempted to analyze the behavior of participants and spectators using "people flow data," and first confirmed its effectiveness and impact.
The studies included are the following two:

■ Analysis of spatial characteristics of attendees at urban development events using people flow data (Professor Nobuhiko Komaki)

This study attempts to understand the spatial characteristics of event attendees at the "Toyohashi Urban Art Event sebone".

■Spatial Characteristics of Festival Spectators as Seen Through people flow Data (Associate Professor Hirotaka Sato)

Focusing on the "Inuyama Festival" and the "Toyohashi Gion Festival," this study examines research methods to capture the spatial characteristics of festival viewing by analyzing the attributes and behavior of people who visit urban spaces during these festivals.

 

Please tell me about the ways in which "people flow data" can be used, as well as its advantages and effects.

As one effective indicator for evaluating community development events and festivals, we used "people flow data" to visualize and analyze the movement of visitors within the venue and the regions from which they came.

As a result, it was found that it is possible to spatially capture the "concentration situation" of visitors, their "temporal changes," their "behavioral patterns" within the venue, and the "distribution of their places of residence," making it possible to examine the impact and ripple effects of the event based on objective information.

Furthermore, while we previously used the method of conducting direct questionnaires at the venue on the day of the event to investigate the attributes and origins of visitors, we realized that by utilizing "people flow data" with attribute information, we can significantly increase the sample size, drastically reduce the time and effort spent on research, and conduct research much more efficiently.

This represents the distribution density of visitors during the event period.

 

This represents the distribution density of the residential areas of visitors (in the paid viewing area).

Please tell me about your experience publishing research findings.

I gave a presentation at the following forum hosted by Aichi University" Research Center for San-En-Nanshin Regional Collaboration, Aichi University,Japan.".

​The11thCross-Border Regional Policy Research Forum will be held on Saturday, February 10, 2024, from 10:00 to 17:45.

Subcommittee 2: Regional System Core "Utilization of people flow Data"

・Spatial characteristics of festival spectators as seen through people flow data: Hirotaka Sato (Associate Professor, Faculty of Regional Policy, Aichi University)

- Analysis of spatial characteristics of attendees at urban development events using people flow data: Nobuhiko Komaki (Professor, Faculty of Regional Policy, Aichi University)

Could you tell us about the circumstances and deciding factors that led you to choose our data?

The impetus for this was when Professor Shohei Nagata of Tohoku University, with whom we are conducting joint research, introduced us to GeoTechnologies, Inc. 'people flow data.

Compared to data from other companies, this data has the advantage of shorter acquisition intervals and finer granularity of GPS logs, as well as comprehensive attribute data, which we believe could be effectively utilized in this research.

Furthermore, the flexibility they offered regarding the data purchase unit (period and area) was one of the deciding factors in our purchase.

Could you tell us about your future plans?

This time, the main objective was to first confirm how people flow data could be used in research, and the results showed that it can be quite useful. Therefore, we would like to connect this to practical research in the future, such as measures to mitigate the risks of congestion during events and festivals, and proposals for resolving congestion.

Furthermore, we plan to continuously analyze how congestion changes when there are any changes, such as changes in the route of the floats during the festival, while observing the year-to-year changes.

 

Aichi University 's website is here.

Click here for Aichi University" Research Center for San-En-Nanshin Regional Collaboration, Aichi University,Japan." page.

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