Sociotechnical urbanism: new systems ergonomics perspectives on land use planning and urban design

The adaptive capacity of public space under COVID-19: Exploring urban design interventions through a sociotechnical systems approach

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the way in which the community interacts within public spaces. Consequently, the design of these urban environments requires new approaches. It is our view that Human Factors and Ergonomics approaches can be used to provide these insights. This article explores the opportunities for making public spaces safer and more accessible for community use under pandemic conditions. The study utilizes a sociotechnical systems model of an archetype public space, developed pre-COVID-19, to explore the infrastructure and activities that are impacted by the introduction of the virus to the public space system. The aim was to identify those elements of the system that are completely unavailable under pandemic conditions, those elements that become limited in use, and those which remained unaffected by the presence of the virus. The findings show that under pandemic conditions pre-COVID-19 public spaces were surprisingly resilient with proportionally few elements within the model completely unavailable. They also demonstrate that overall, the public spaces system, while still operating, is significantly constrained in achieving and optimizing community and individual health and well-being. The insertion of five (5) urban design interventions within the system model presented unique insights into the possibilities for optimizing adaptive capacity. These interventions revealed design opportunities across several levels of the systems model. Such insights are argued to assist in not only re-establishing community access under pandemic conditions but also more inclusive access to a broader range of the community under all conditions.

Interaction-centred design: an end user evaluation of road intersection concepts developed using the cognitive work analysis design toolkit (CWA-DT)

Crashes at intersections represent an important road safety problem. Interactions between different road user types, such as between vehicles and vulnerable road users, are a particular concern. It has been suggested driver-centric road design plays a role in crashes. A multi-road user evaluation of three novel intersection designs is described. The designs were generated using the Cognitive Work Analysis Design Toolkit, underpinned by sociotechnical systems theory. The desktop evaluation involved drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians rating the design concepts against alignment with design goals, sociotechnical systems theory and usability, and providing feedback on the positive and negative aspects. Two concepts received more positive ratings and feedback in comparison to a concept that provided more user autonomy. The evaluation results also highlight clear differences in needs across road user groups. The design and evaluation process demonstrates how sociotechnical systems values and principles can be applied in the design of public spaces. Practitioner Summary: This study involved a participatory evaluation of novel road intersection designs, based on sociotechnical systems theory. The results identified important differences in needs and preferences across road user groups and demonstrate the value of sociotechnical systems theory and user participation in road transport design and evaluation processes. Abbreviations: CWA-DT: cognitive work analysis design toolkit; WDA: work domain analysis; SUS: system usability scale.