Daily rhythm of the population mobility: the importance of public transport in functionally specific parts of the city

Abstract

This article explores the concept of temporal scenery in urban environments to understand specific urban rhythms through population mobility in selected parts of the city. The spatial configuration of intersecting temporalities can, upon deeper analysis, identify spatial or temporal attributes, or a certain affiliation to a specific spatio-temporal system. This article therefore provides a theoretical basis for concepts of urban rhythms and other empirical analyses of spatial data and interactions. The data from the census of public transport passengers in the area of Olomouc in the Czech Republic have been analysed. The visible existence of differences in the use of transport on weekdays and during weekends has been confirmed. In the empirical part of the work, specific urban rhythms were identified based on temporal and spatial conditionality. The specific features of selected parts of the city, such as the fragmented area of the University Hospital and the shopping mall on the periphery of the city, which are operated by separate public transport lines and differ in the course of the daily rhythm of the population’s mobility curve, are further analysed in depth with a view to identify the possible causes of this difference.