Citation

Haghani M. Safety Sci. 2020; 128: 104745.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ssci.2020.104745

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This work is a systematic review of optimisation methods for pedestrian evacuations. The focus is on interventional approaches that seek to improve evacuation efficiency rather than efforts to purely describe/predict evacuations. Three major evacuation optimisation approaches are identified: (a) architectural design and infrastructure adjustment, (b) mathematical programming and optimisation of path/departure-schedule planning, (c) behavioural modification, training and active instructions. The reviewed literature is dominated by architectural solutions, while the evidence on their effectiveness is largely mixed and inconclusive. They also pose practical challenges: major design interventions in previously-built infrastructure may not always be readily feasible. Furthermore, the effectiveness of architectural solutions is often suggested to be geometry/context dependant rather than universal. Complex path/schedule optimisation solutions also pose their own implementation and enforcement challenges. They often require that an entire crowd be controlled and directed by a central body. They also do not address microscopic aspects of individual behaviour. The behavioural modification method used to be the least studied approach until recently, but it is gaining increasing traction as a promising method in terms of both effectiveness and practicality. Its underexplored potential constitutes a major knowledge gap in evacuation dynamics literature. The first important step to address this gap is to (i) identify possible and most effective areas of behavioural intervention; and (ii) employ reliable experimental or numerical methods to discover optimum strategies, and (iii) determine how behavioural interventions can be effectively conveyed to people. Establishing the relative effectiveness of the three optimisation approaches also constitutes another important question to be explored.

Language: en

Keywords

Crowd management; Disaster preparedness; Evacuation planning; Evacuation preparedness; Evacuation time