Understanding Visitor Mobility Patterns in Public Spaces: A Case Study of Wakayama Castle Park

Understanding visitor mobility in public spaces is essential for optimizing transportation services and improving accessibility. This study investigates mobility patterns within Wakayama Castle Park using questionnaire-based data. Participants reported both their thought destination (the locations they initially planned to visit using mobility vehicles) and their actual destination (the locations they ultimately reached using mobility vehicles). By reconstructing individual mobility trajectories from these responses, we quantify the difference in distance between intended and actual travel routes. Through statistical and counterfactual analyses, we identify key factors influencing deviations in mobility behavior, such as accessibility constraints, environmental conditions, and decision-making processes. The findings offer insights into user navigation challenges and inform the design of more effective mobility services for historical and recreational sites.

Published paper

• Mishra, M., Kala, S. M., Amano, T., & Yamaguchi, H. (2024, October). Balancing Privacy and Planning: Using Counterfactuals to Predict and Optimize Tourism in Wakayama City. In Proceedings of the 2nd ACM SIGSPATIAL International Workshop on Geo-Privacy and Data Utility for Smart Societies (pp. 25-30). https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3681768.3698504