Pedestrian systems design

Transport systems as components of mobility systems have become key elements for the development of cities. However, most efforts have been made to improve on motorized transport systems, leaving out the non-motorized ones including the pedestrians. Lately there has been a clear trend worldwide regarding awareness about the importance of walking to raise levels of quality of life, especially in cities. This phenomenon, coupled with the shortage of parking in relation to the amount of vehicles, fuel costs, and other considerations has shifted attention to pedestrian systems. This paper presents a discussion of the context in which pedestrian systems are immersed, how they are defined, what is their significance, how they are designed and finally, concludes on what is the trend in their representation and what are the "gaps" or lacks in modeling of these systems. This paper concludes that there is a tendency to analyze pedestrian systems with a microscopic vision and to neglect their recognition as transport systems.