Pedestrian potential (Zürich, 100 m grid)¶
Modelled pedestrian potential per 100 m cell: an index from 0 to 100 combining pedestrian attractors nearby, public transport departures nearby and residents. An estimate from open data, not measured footfall. Also shows whether public drinking water is within reach.
Layer id: zuerich-pedestrian-potential · Geometry: polygon · Features: 7,256 · Region: Zürich · Project: Zürich · OSM data as of: 2026-11-01T17:22:21Z · Exported: 2026-11-01T17:32:59+00:00 · Defined in: layers/zuerich.py
Parameters¶
| Parameter | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
cell_size_m |
100 m | Grid cell size (EPSG:3035, aligned with the Zensus 2022 grid). |
attractor_radius_m |
300 m | Attractors count within this distance, less with distance. |
transit_radius_m |
400 m | Departures count within this distance, less with distance. |
walking_distance_m |
300 m | A public drinking-water point within this distance (straight line) covers a cell. |
Attributes¶
| Attribute | Type | Label | Source | Tagged |
|---|---|---|---|---|
cell_id |
string | Grid cell | feature id (OSM reference or grid cell id) | |
attractors |
number | Attractors nearby | sum of weight of Pedestrian attractors (Zürich) within 300 m, counting less with distance |
|
transit |
number | Public transport departures nearby | sum of the values of Public transport departures (GTFS Switzerland, timetable 2026) on 2026-11-03 within 400 m, counting less with distance | |
residents |
number (people) | Residents | sum of the values of STATPOP 2024 population per hectare (BFS) within 56.4 m | |
potential |
number | Pedestrian potential | index 0–100: weighted mean of attractors × 0.5, transit × 0.3, residents × 0.2, each scaled by its 95th percentile |
|
potential_class |
string | Pedestrian potential | classification: very_high if Pedestrian potential ≥ 60; high if Pedestrian potential ≥ 40; medium if Pedestrian potential ≥ 20; low if Pedestrian potential ≥ 5; otherwise minimal |
|
dist_public_water_m (optional) |
integer (m) | Nearest public drinking water (straight line) | distance to nearest feature of Drinking water (Zürich) where public is True (straight line) |
|
water_covered |
boolean | Drinking water within reach | classification: True if Nearest public drinking water (straight line) ≤ 300; otherwise False |
- Pedestrian potential (
potential_class) – closed list:very_high: Very high (60–100) – Among the busiest places for pedestrians in the region (modelled). (822)high: High (40–60) (1,044)medium: Medium (20–40) (2,385)low: Low (5–20) (1,893)minimal: Minimal (under 5) (1,112)
- Drinking water within reach (
water_covered) – closed list:true: Public drinking water within 300 m – Straight line. (6,397)false: No public drinking water within 300 m (859)
Assumptions¶
Modelled, not measured¶
The index estimates where people are likely to walk, from open data, following the idea of the pedestrian significance maps of Leipzig and Hamburg. It has not been checked against pedestrian counts.
Status: Assumption
Weights are our assumption¶
Attractors 50 %, public transport 30 %, residents 20 %. Each component is scaled by its 95th percentile within the region, so a few extreme cells don't dominate. Values are relative: 60 in one city is not the same footfall as 60 in another.
Status: Assumption
Departures on a typical Tuesday¶
Public transport counts all departures on one Tuesday covered by the timetable; weekends and holidays differ.
Status: Assumption
Residents count where they live¶
Residents raise the potential of residential areas; they don't show where people walk during the day.
Status: Assumption
Swiss hectares assigned approximately¶
STATPOP counts residents per hectare of the Swiss LV95 grid. Each hectare is assigned to the 100 m cells whose centre is within 56 m of its centre: correct on average, but single cells can get two hectares or none. BFS also rounds small counts up to 3 for privacy.
Status: Assumption
Sources¶
| Source | Used for | License |
|---|---|---|
| OpenStreetMap | All features and their tags | ODbL 1.0 |
| GTFS Switzerland (opentransportdata.swiss) | Public transport departures per stop | opentransportdata.swiss terms of use |
| BFS STATPOP 2024, population per hectare | Residents per cell | OPEN-BY (free use, source required) |