Academic Journal

The impact of crowds on visibility in emergency department: Integrating agent-based simulation and space syntax analysis

Λεπτομέρειες βιβλιογραφικής εγγραφής
Τίτλος: The impact of crowds on visibility in emergency department: Integrating agent-based simulation and space syntax analysis
Συγγραφείς: Hao Yuan, Ying Zhou
Πηγή: Frontiers of Architectural Research, Vol 14, Iss 5, Pp 1398-1414 (2025)
Στοιχεία εκδότη: Elsevier BV, 2025.
Έτος έκδοσης: 2025
Θεματικοί όροι: Agent-based simulation, Architecture, Crowd obstruction, Space syntax, Visibility assessment, Emergency departments, NA1-9428
Περιγραφή: Emergency departments (EDs) are among the busiest hospital units, where visibility is crucial for surveillance, collaboration, and wayfinding. In China, high ED patient volumes lead to crowded corridors, significantly impacting visibility. However, current visibility assessment methods focus on static obstructions such as walls and columns, neglecting crowd obstruction, and underestimating visual impediments.To address this research gap, this study proposes a novel visibility assessment method combining agent-based simulation and space syntax analysis. Based on peak-hour behavioral data from Hospital R's ED, crowd movement was simulated across six ED plans with different corridor layouts. The simulated crowd positions were then treated as visual obstacles, and space syntax theory was applied to evaluate visibility under crowd obstruction at various timesteps. The findings reveal that: 1) ring corridor layouts reduce patient backtracking and corridor congestion; 2) ring corridor layouts facilitate better natural surveillance of the overall space by medical staff with crowd obstruction considered; 3) ring corridor layouts enable medical staff to see each other more easily, supporting team collaboration, regardless of crowd obstruction; 4) simple layouts perform best in terms of wayfinding, irrespective of crowd obstruction. This study presents the first comprehensive quantitative assessment of ED visibility under crowd obstruction, with potential applications in other crowded public spaces.
Τύπος εγγράφου: Article
Γλώσσα: English
ISSN: 2095-2635
DOI: 10.1016/j.foar.2025.01.007
Σύνδεσμος πρόσβασης: https://doaj.org/article/78a93539829542749a92dcccbeac2be1
Rights: CC BY NC ND
Αριθμός Καταχώρησης: edsair.doi.dedup.....34e23b2d7647f599416ab400d6814fae
Βάση Δεδομένων: OpenAIRE
Περιγραφή
ISSN:20952635
DOI:10.1016/j.foar.2025.01.007