Light and Crime
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Mapping Light:
A UMD Project Catches the Attention
of the City of Duluth
Olaf Kuhlke, associate professor and chair of the Geography Department,
is interested in the design of sustainable cities and in sustainable transportation.
In his Urban Ecology class, students have worked on projects that included
mapping bike routes and overlapping bike routes with bus routes. Originally
from Germany, Kuhlke admits he likes to walk. After attending a conference
where he heard a lecture about what makes cities walkable, he got the
idea to explore the “walkability” of Duluth.
Kuhlke talked with Marc Malinoski, a senior majoring in Geography, about
the elements of walkability. Since Malinoski walked to school each day,
he was drawn to the subject and decided to make it his senior project
last semester. “It was nice to pick a topic that I liked and that
I was interested in,” Malinoski noted. He chose the Endion neighborhood
of Duluth, an L-shaped section of town bordered by East Eighth Street
to the north, South 26th Avenue to the East, South 11th Avenue to the
west and Lake Superior to the south. Malinoski began working on the project
as soon as school started in September 2008.
Where the Sidewalk Starts
Malinoski chose to analyze the neighborhood’s walkability using
five criteria. They were: condition of surface, slope, lighting, vegetation
and handicapped accessibility. He took pictures and slope measurements.
He rated sidewalk condition and lighting as good, fair or poor. Malinoski
then plotted the findings from each of the five criteria onto city planning
maps. The lighting map (A) shows poor light in black, fair light light
in red and good light in yellow. Lastly, Malinski charted the most walker
friendly routes onto a sixth map ranging from easy routes in green to
difficult routes in red (B).Based on his findings, Malinoski concluded
that, at least in the Endion neighborhood, "Duluth isn't that walker
friendly.” He was most surprised by the number of vegetation obstructions;
“"hedges that block the sidewalk, branches that make you duck."
He also found sidewalks “"in dire need of work which had four
or five inch drops to the road. He pointed out that some areas had multiple
condition problems and would not be user-friendly to a person in a wheelchair
or scooter. Malinoski presented his findings and graduated in December
but the project isn't finished.
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Light and Shadow
Kuhlke became very interested in the light measuring component of Malinoski’s
study and decided to explore that further. This semester, his Urban Ecology
class will be measuring light throughout Duluth. He will divide the class
into ten groups, one for each of the ten planning districts in the city.
The students will go out at night and use Lux meters to measure light.
“I want them to take measurements first when there is snow cover
and then later in the spring after the snow has melted to see how much
the reflectivity of the snow affects the measurements,” Kuhlke said.
When students take measurements, a GPS reading will record exactly where
that reading was taken. Ultimately this information will be plotted onto
city maps.
College of Liberal Arts Development Director Adam Meyer contacted Duluth
Mayor Don Ness about this project, and Ness has expressed interest in
the results. “The city is interested in efficient street lighting
and wants to know where street lighting could be improved.” Kuhlke
has also become intrigued by whether there is a correlation between crime
and less well-lit areas, something that Malinoski is also very interested
it. “It raises the question of whether we should be concerned with
dark spots,” Kuhlke said. Crime statistics could be overlaid onto
the light mapping study to see whether crime is higher in low-light areas.
Kuhlke has asked Malinoski to work on this project with him and the class.
In his Urban Ecology class, Kuhlke asks his students to pay particular
attention to the everyday struggles that occur in the households and neighborhoods
of cities as people attempt to care for themselves and their families
in our rapidly changing world. Malinoski applied that thinking to one
Duluth neighborhood, seeing its sidewalks with fresh eyes, noting the
challenges that neglect and disrepair can present to people who cannot
navigate the sidewalks as easily as he can. It will be interesting to
see what new observations and insights students bring to the mapping light
study.
Visit the Department of Geography's website
Written by Kathleen McQuillan-Hofmann, kmcquill@d.umn.edu
UMD home page editor, Cheryl Reitan, creitan@d.umn.edu
NEW RELEASES, UMD media contact,
Susan Latto, slatto@d.umn.edu,
218-726-8830