南方建筑Issue(12)：1-9,9.DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1000-0232.2025.12.001
全球城市空中步道系统设计研究
Research on the Design of Urban Skywalk System around the World
摘要
Abstract
A skywalk system is a series of elevated walkways built in an urban environment to connect buildings and public facilities,providing an efficient,comfortable,and safe all-weather walking environment.It helps relieve ground traffic pressure and has many advantages,such as land conservation,enriching spatial levels and forms,promoting commercial activities and social interactions,and shaping the urban landscape.However,such systems have also been criticized for reducing the vitality of ground-level streets,causing the privatization of public spaces,being disconnected from ground-level walking systems,disrupting continuous street views,and incurring construction and operation challenges.Since the 1960s,global skywalk systems have undergone an evolutionary process leading from construction to demolition and then to maintenance and renewal.In the past five years,skywalk systems in Chinese cities have been increasing,and at this stage there are three urgent questions that need to be answered:What kinds of cities need to build a skywalk system?What kinds of skywalk systems need to be constructed?What is the best way to plan for and design such systems? For this study,90 cities around the world with built skywalk systems were chosen as a test group and another 20 cities without elevated walkways but with similar urban volumes and geographical locations were chosen as the control group.We carried out a quantitative statistical analysis of 16 design factors of skywalk systems related to 6 indicators—namely,overall layout,scale of skywalk,plan layout,section form,location of vertical transportation,and spatial enclosure—and 15 factors of urban environmental elements related to 3 indicators—namely,the natural environment,the socio-economic environment,and the urban built environment.The correlation analysis showed that street width,white-collar employment rate,average annual rainfall,underground walkway construction,and average annual temperature are the key elements for decision-making about skywalk systems.Global skywalks were then classified into three types according to a second-order cluster statistical analysis:overall connected type,center-diffusion type,and linear extension type.Application conditions for each type were summarized by combining their features.Specific findings are as follows:(1)The overall connected type is suitable for urban areas with harsh climates,little rainfall,and much snowfall;developed economies;small populations and district areas;high crime rates;large street width-to-height ratios;and high floor-area ratios.This type of skywalk mostly adopts through-type planar connections,guiding potential pedestrian flows into buildings for conversion.The well-connected network structure can enhance accessibility and choice.Moreover,this type of skywalk is closely related to urban safety and development levels.It can effectively reduce criminal activity,enhance citizens'sense of security,improve the image of a city,and provide diversified leisure and social spaces for citizens.However,it requires high-level urban governance because of the large scale and high cost.(2)The center-diffusion type has a wide range of applications and covers a larger area with the same length of skywalk.It calls for open skywalks,which can meet the needs for interaction between pedestrians and the natural environment.Design cases such as the skywalk system in Hong Kong,China,are worth learning from.(3)The linear extension type is an entry-level skywalk,which is small in scale and has a single function.It is suitable for urban areas with milder climates,high population densities,developed economies,and small populations and district areas.It can solve specific problems like functional and traffic connections.In the final phase of the study,the design techniques and application scenarios of pedestrian pathway systems were analyzed from the perspectives of plane design,vertical positioning,enclosure,and vertical transportation design.The paper concludes with some design strategy suggestions for newly built or updated skywalk systems in high-density cities in China,such as meeting multiple objectives and adapting to local conditions.关键词
空中步道系统/案例研究/城市环境要素/设计要素Key words
skywalk system/case study/urban environment elements/design elements分类
建筑与水利引用本文复制引用
胡映东,张筱倩..全球城市空中步道系统设计研究[J].南方建筑,2025,(12):1-9,9.基金项目
北京社科基金规划项目(22LSB006):北京铁路遗产全链式保护的再生机制与评价研究. （22LSB006）
