Experiences from GPS tracking of visitors in three Public Parks in Denmark based on GPS technologies Paper presented at the International workshop SPM2008 in Tartu, Estonia http://www.ut.ee/spm2008/ Authors: Harder, Henrik - Bro, Peter - Tradisauskas, Nerius - Nielsen, Thomas Sick - Albrechtslund, Anders Knudstrup, Mary-Ann Title page: Experiences from GPS tracking of visitors in Public Parks in Denmark based on GPS technologies Abstract: The Aalborg GPS-Park survey is the most recent and most comprehensive of the finished explorative GPS based surveys conducted by DUS Research Project from Aalborg University. The Aalborg GPSPark survey was conducted in Aalborg (Denmark) in august 2007 and consisted of surveys in four public parks (N = 4.462). This paper discusses the results from three of the park surveys: Mølleparken, Søheltens Have and Skanseparken (N = 1.415). The data from these three parks were collected using an identical survey setup. The three surveys have entailed contact to nearly all types of visitors of different ages and social backgrounds. They have also compiled much information on the practical challenges of collecting data using these types of surveys but also unique new knowledge about the actual activity patterns in the parks which was a part of the survey setup. The Aalborg GPS-Park case study has thus worked through a wide range of etichal discussion, pratical challenges, and stages that many different GPS based tracking research projects must address.Furthermore Aalborg GPS-Park survey has encompassed the development of a real time visualization tool of GPS tracking using Google Earth. Taking a point of departure in joining and connecting the GPS data and questionnaire data from one of the parks, Skanseparken (N = 293) the possibilities in using different types of GPS based Arch view activity pattern analyses have been used. The activity pattern analyses have been developed in discussed with representatives from the Aalborg Municipality responsible for the design and operation of the parks. Keywords: Survey, GPS, GPRS, Parks, GIS, activity patterns, Google, Planning, Ethics 1 The Aalborg GPS-Park survey setup The purpose of the Aalborg GPS-Park survey was primarily to gain experiences with and develop a framework for large scale data collection using GPS technology and specific type of GPS hardware. Furthermore the results from the survey offered an opportunity to examine some of the opportunities for real time visualization using Google Earth. The GPS-Park survey was developed in collaboration with the municipality of Aalborg which needed more information about the actually use of local public parks. Information which could be used in the future design and operation of specific areas in the parks. The surveys were carried out in three parks in Aalborg, August 2007, and 1.415 park visitors were contacted. Each park survey consisted of two separate survey parts: a GPS tracking of visitors in the park and a questionnaire survey of visitors visiting the park. The Aalborg GPS-Park survey was carried out in Mølleparken on Wednesday the 8th and Saturday the 11th of August 2007 – both days in the interval between 06.00 and 22.00. In Søheltens Have on Thursday the 16th and Saturday the 18th of August 2007 - both days in the interval between 07.00 and 19.00. In Skanseparken on Wednesday the 22nd and Saturday the 25th of August 2007 - both days in the interval between 07.00 and 19.00. All above mentioned dates and time intervals were prearranged with the municipality of Aalborg and placed on days with no rain. According to prearrangements with the municipality of Aalborg a number of survey representatives were placed at a number of specific park entrances in each park on every surveyday. According to the agreed survey set-up the survey representatives at the chosen entrances contacted all visitors entering the specific park. They invited them to participate in a survey carried out by Aalborg University in co-operation with the municipality of Aalborg. If the visitor did not want to take part in the survey, the survey representative tried to carry out a refusal survey consisting of very few questions. If the visitor accepted to take part in the survey, a GPS-unit was handed out to the visitor, and he or she subsequently turned into a respondent in the survey. The respondent was then asked to carry the GPS-unit during the whole visit in the park until he or she was about to leave the park. At the exit of the park the respondent was furthermore asked to fill in a questionnaire. If the survey representatives did not have any more GPS-units or the respondents did not want to carry the GPSunit but still wanted to participate in the survey, the survey representatives only carried through with the questionnaires at the exit of the park, and a GPS-tracking was thus not carried out. The questionnaire part of the survey therefore included all visitors it was possible to contact at one of the chosen entrances/exits and who agreed to participate in the survey. Whereas the GPStracking only consists of respondents who agreed to carry a GPS-unit and where it was possible to hand one out. The refusal survey consists of the visitors who did not wish to participate in the park survey but who agreed to participate in the refusal survey. In addition to this there were also visitors who did not wish to participate in any of the surveys or to be contacted at all. These visitors were enumerated separately by the survey representatives. Because of the limited numbers of available hardware units (in total 50 units), the units were distributed during the survey days among the entrances of the park in question, compared to the estimated number of visitors that would enter the park. The Aalborg GPS-Park survey and the three parks The municipality of Aalborg owns and runs nearly 2.000 hectare parks and green areas, forests, and the three parks cover a smaller area of 30,4 hectare or 15,2 % of the total 2 area. All three parks are placed in a radius of 2000 meter from the old central Aalborg City Centre. Mølleparken, 214.000 m2 - Consists of two parts: a relatively big piece of woodland with old hardwood covering more than 80 % of the park area, gardens and a more traditional open park with areas of grass and sparse vegetation. These elements give the opportunity of enjoying the view of the northern part of Aalborg. Mølleparken borders on some of the urban areas with the highest average income in the municipality of Aalborg. Søheltens Have, 23.000 m2 - Consists of a big area with different purposes, e.g. a “Boule area” and an apple tree area. The park offers opportunities for staying in the park but also for passing through as it connects different local urban areas of Aalborg to a marina area. There is no possibility of a view of the rest of the city. Søheltens Have is located in an area in Alborg with a very low average income in the municipality of Aalborg. Skanseparken, 67.000 m2 – Consists of several areas with different purposes e.g. gardens, tennis court and small woodland from parts of the park it is possible to enjoy the view of the most of the southen part of Aalborg. The park is located in an older detached house area and is used as a place to stay or as a supplementary garden. The average income of the area is about the level of the average income in the municipality of Aalborg. The Aalborg GPS-Park survey – The questionnaire survey part The questionnaire survey part was paper based and consisted of 16 different types of questions. The questions were copied from a Danish national park survey (reference). In a Danish context there are no references to answering percentage for similar surveys as this GPS based survey is the first of its kind in Denmark. A refusal survey was carried out, consisted of 5 different types of questions, but questions about why potential respondents did not wish to take part in the survey were not asked in this refusal survey. Only questions about e.g. their age and gender were asked. In the following only the data from questions concerning participation, age, gender and activity are discussed. There is an expected variation of the answering percentage but actual statistical analyses on systematic variation are not conducted in this paper. Participation (all visitors in the survey)- 49 % of the total number of visitors participated in the survey, and 38 % of the total number of visitors participated in the GPS survey. An evaluation of the park surveys in the three parks based on feedback from the survey representatives generated a conclusion that the main reason why visitors did not wish to take part in a “more complicated” survey was because of lack of time. (Table 1: Respondents level) Age and Gender (respondents in the GPS survey) - 55 % of all respondents were men, and 45 % were women. The average age of respondents in the three parks was: 40,8 years for Mølleparken, 44,8 years for Søheltens Have and 38,9 years for Skanseparken. Average age in the municipality of Aalborg is 38,8 years and division of gender 50 %. (Table 2: Gender, Table 3: Age distribution) Activities (respondents in the GPS survey) - Despite the fact that three parks are different in size and design the respondents on the whole report the same “purposes” for staying in the parks. The two main purposes are: “To get some fresh air” (27 % stated this) and “Experience the nature” (19 % stated this). The least essential purpose for staying in the parks was to “Meet other people” (2 % stated this) and “Retraining” (1 % stated this). (Table 4: Activities) 3 The Aalborg GPS-Park survey –GIS analysis of Skanseparken After the Aalborg GPS-Park survey were completed the GPS data and questionnaire data from one of the parks, Skanseparken (N = 293), were joined and connected in one database. Based on GPS trackings from 132 respondents participating in the GPS part of the park survey ia joined dataset was established. The joining of the data was done qua a script based on the arrival and departure time of every single respondent and was afterwards manual checked. Based on interviews with two representatives from Park & Nature, the municipality of Aalborg, three types of GIS analysis were developed. The main problem here was that the representatives’ daily practices were based on a specific set of requirements and was furthermore based on what is needed for operating the parks. During the interviews focus was narrowed to three themes, “respondents’ used time” “respondents’ use of different areas” and “respondents’ speed” e.g average speed of the movements” Working with the three themes much time was used coping with the classical GIS problem: “To express a complex set of data (huge amount of information) in a simple and yet understandable way”. Working with “respondents’ used time” a classical GIS visualization technique was used based on the accumulated respondents’ time in the park during the survey. The data were processed using standard point density in ArcGIS (Output cell size 0,01. Neighborhood settings, Search radius 10m circle aera, units square meters). In ArcScene we used a unit convention on 10 (z) to enhance 3d visualizations. It was chosen to use this type of GIS visualization although the drapings created by point density processing method did spread the original GPS information, indicating e.g. that the areas outside the paths of the parks were used even though this was not the case. (Fig 1: Humans GIS analysis of total time used in Skanseparken based on different age groups (N= 132)). Working with the theme: “respondents’ use of different areas” much attention was focused on the actual time used in the different areas of the parks..Using this classical GIS visualization also raised some classical GIS problems concerning the differences in the GIS visualization in case of “few respondents spending long time or many people spending short time using the same space/area”. A satisfying visualization and solution was not found as it was chosen to visualize data using fixed time span (half hour) based on the accumulated respondents’ time in the park. (Fig 2: Space - Analysis of accumulated time used in Skanseparken based on user defined areas/spaces (N= 132)). The theme “respondents and speed” has also caused some trouble because of ethical considerations combined with classical problems about data complexity. The GIS visualizations and the analyses became too complex for the representatives from the Aalborg Municipality using many respondents (more than 5 respondents) and raising severe ethical considerations about exposing single respondent’s activity patterns. (Fig 3: Analysis of speed and movement patterns in Skanseparken based on different users (N= 4)). Discussion: In the light of the Aalborg GPS-Park survey it can be concluded that the results from GPS based surveys can absolutely and with success be used to analyze activity patterns and to communicate knowledge about the usage of specific urban areas to both researchers/scientists, professional users and citizens. Although the prices on the GPS hardware is decreasing, working with GPS based survey methods is still quite costly and raises some questions which are important to discuss before considering using the method: 4 Ethical considerations and anonymity - The trustworthiness of data and thereby the respondents’ patterns of activity can be questioned. The respondents’ activity patterns could in theory be influenced by the fact that they know their patterns of activity are mapped even if it was a complete anonymous registration as in the reviewed GPS-Park example. This could be the case even in the described park GPS based surveys but would be a more crucial problem in other types of surveys involving activity patterns covering home and work addresses. The discussion has lead to the formulation of an ethical charter, the so called “Aalborg ethical GPS survey charter” “The Aalborg ethical GPS survey charter”: In the DMB/DUS research projects you are asked if you want to participate before the registration starts. It is voluntarily to participate and you can at any time back out of the project. If you are a participant you will be asked to wear a GPS unit e.g. for 7 days. The GPS unit will register where you are. If you as a participant does not want to register where you are you can immediately turn off the GPS unit. In the DMB/DUS research project we present different examples of types of analyses for each participant. These examples show the types of analyses we want to accomplish starting from the data we want to collect from each participant. The participant will sign a contract in which we set out how and in what connection the registered data will be used and to whom they are available. In the DMB/DUS research project the researchers keep and protect the data and this information is not passed on to third parties who are not mentioned in the contract between participant and the project. This also counts for official authorities or other third parties e.g. the police as long as it doesn’t contradict existing EU and national legislation. In the DMB/DUS research project we do not give financial compensation for participation. Instead we draw lots for a number of prizes among the participants who have been chosen to participate in our research projects and who provide data of the best quality. In the DMB/DUS research projects GPS units are handed out and we hope that participants will take part in the data collection starting from the entered agreements and will not misuse data or use false identities. GPS Unit - In the light of a number of various deliberations a GPRS based hardware unit (Flextrack Lommy©) with a built-in GPS was chosen to the completion of the Aalborg GPS-park survey: firstly the design of the unit was simple, the unit was light and small (it only weighs 99 gram, and the dimensions were 74x61x23 mm), and it had only one small red on/off button. Secondly the choice of this GPS unit gave the opportunity to follow the GPS unit online and in real time so that respondents leaving the park without having passed survey representatives at the chosen entrances could be tracked and caught up with. GPS precision - The Precision of the GPS and GPRS units which were used in Aalborg GPS-Park survey was tested in a park environment (Skanseparken) and had an average deviation of 6,79 meters. Big trees and single-storied buildings caused a minor systematic error while tall buildings caused a considerable systematic error of 18,26 metres in a narrow street with tall buildings ( about 20 meters) on each side. The accuracy of the GPS part of the hardware unit is based on a 16 Channel parallel Very High Sensitivity receiver with a sensitivity tracking: -158 dBm / -188 dBW and a high efficiency Helix antenna. GPS Data quality – The GPS waypoints generated from the GPS units used in the surveys were in general of high quality. Due to limited battery length (10 hours) waypoints were logged with 5 different intervals up to every 10 seconds but “two seconds waypoints” were later added to the dataset qua interpolation in the database with the joined data. Representativity - Owing to the explorative survey setup it its worth drawing attention to the fact that they were not statistical representative surveys compared to the everyday usages of the parks over a year. It is also worth considering that the actual survey setup was not efficient in getting data from all visitors. The actual results which are being presented in this paper do therefore not show the representative activity patterns neither for each park nor for each week but only for the day the survey was carried out. Basic practical problems - A GPS-based survey setup, like the one presented in this paper, still holds a number of minor practical problems concerning handing out and collecting GPS hardware units even if the hardware units did not represent a value to the respondents or the hardware units are of no use to respondents afterwards. A few times it was necessary to use the online registration features to “hunt-down” the respondents who forgot to deliver the GPS units when leaving the park. During all three surveys no GPS units were lost, but in another similar one day survey in another park in Aalborg in August called Kildeparken involving 3.047 respondents’ three GPS units were lost. Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank Nicolas Rendtlew Horst, Anders Knørr Lyseen and Henrik Skov from Aalborg University for their invaluable contribution by leading and conducting the GPS-Park survey and the work with the GIS analyses. The authors want to thank Mette Lemcke Frederiksen for translation and linguistic adjustments of papers and articles related to our research. The authors also wish to thank Kirsten Lund Andersen, city head gardener, and Marianne Jensen, head of department for Park & Nature, the municipality of Aalborg, for their willingness to cooperate with the authors about the survey and the GIS visualisations during and after the Aalborg GPS-Park surveys were conducted. References: Anderson, J. 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(2007) / The precision of the Lommy Phoenix : Tests in various urban environments. 2007, Scientific report, Aalbor University, http://vbn.aau.dk/fbspretrieve/13687440/report_precision.pdf 7 Table(s) with caption(s) (on individual sheets): Table 1: Respondents’ level Mølleparken Søheltens have Skanseparken Total GPS - Not 105 13% 31 11% 24 8% 160 11% GPS - Yes 301 37% 99 34% 132 44% 532 38% Respondents (in survey) 406 49% 130 44% 156 52% 692 49% Refused to participate in the refusal survey 119 14% 61 21% 41 14% 221 16% Refused to participate at all 299 36% 102 35% 101 34% 502 35% Respondents (total) 824 100% 293 100% 298 100% 1415 100% Table 2: Gender Mølleparken Søheltens have Skanseparken Total men, GPS - Yes 156 52% 62 63% 73 55% 291 55% women, GPS - Yes 145 48% 37 37% 59 45% 241 45% Respondents (in survey) 301 100% 99 100% 132 100% men, GPS - Not 216 72% 83 84% 81 61% 380 71% women, GPS - Not 189 63% 46 46% 73 55% 308 58% Not reported 118 29% 65 66% 12 9% 195 37% Respondents (total) 824 293 298 532 100% 1415 Table 3: Age distribution Mølleparken 0-9 years (11%, Aalborg Muncipality) Søheltens have Skanseparken Total 3 1% 0 0% 5 3% 8 1% 10-19 years (12%, Aalborg Muncipality) 21 5% 0 0% 30 19% 51 7% 20-29 years (16%, Aalborg Muncipality) 100 25% 39 30% 16 10% 155 22% 30-39 years (14%, Aalborg Muncipality) 71 17% 15 12% 20 13% 106 15% 40-49 years (14%, Aalborg Muncipality) 88 22% 15 12% 36 23% 139 20% 50-59 years (13%, Aalborg Muncipality) 61 15% 23 18% 29 19% 113 16% 60-69 years (11%, Aalborg Muncipality) 49 12% 25 19% 9 6% 83 12% 70-79 years (7%, Aalborg Muncipality) 9 2% 8 6% 7 4% 24 3% 80-89 years (3%, Aalborg Muncipality) 3 1% 3 2% 3 2% 9 1% 90 years + (1%, Aalborg Muncipality) 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% Not reported 1 2 2% 1 1% 4 1% 130 100% 156 100% Respondents (in survey) 406 100% 692 100% Table 4: Activities Mølleparken Søheltens have Skanseparken Total Experience the nature 238 20% 41 20% 66 18% 345 19% Because of the quietness and peace 179 15% 29 14% 56 16% 264 15% 8 To get some fresh air 307 25% 74 36% 104 29% 485 27% To feel better 167 14% 20 10% 41 11% 228 13% Meet other people 20 2% 10 5% 10 3% 40 2% So that the family could do something together 53 4% 7 3% 21 6% 81 5% So that I could be with my friends 42 3% 8 4% 23 6% 73 4% To improve my condition 192 16% 15 7% 31 9% 238 13% Retraining/rehabilitation 16 1% 3 1% 7 2% 26 1% 1214 100% 207 100% 359 100% Total (several activities could be reported) 1780 100% Figures: (Fig 1: Humans - GIS analysis of total time used in Skanseparken based on different age groups (N= 132)). (Fig 2: Space - Analysis of accumulated time used in Skanseparken based on user defined areas/spaces (N= 132)). 9 (Fig 3: Analysis of speed and movement patterns in Skanseparken based on different users (N= 4)). 10