Stefanos Tsigdinos
@ntua.gr
PhD student
National Technical University of Athens, Greece
Scopus Publications
Scholar Citations
Scholar h-index
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
Paraskevi Sarri, Panagiotis G. Tzouras, Stefanos Tsigdinos, Ioannis Kaparias, and Konstantinos Kepaptsoglou
Elsevier BV
Stefanos Tsigdinos, Panagiotis G. Tzouras, Ioannis Kosmidis, Efthimios Bakogiannis, and Konstantinos Kepaptsoglou
Informa UK Limited
Avgi Vassi, Christos Karolemeas, Stefanos Tsigdinos, and Efthimios Bakogiannis
MDPI AG
In the last decade, in Europe and the US, carsharing has become a mainstream transportation mode offering a sustainable solution to serious urban problems such as pollution, economic crisis, congestion, and parking. In Greece, carsharing is currently entering its commercial phase. Planners and providers strive to gain an insight into the factors influencing the use of carsharing to effectively implement carsharing systems (CSS). In this context, understanding the motives and usage conditions are considered necessary. Based on a qualitative analysis (semi-constructed interviews, n = 52), this paper identifies motivational patterns as well as personal characteristics of potential users that can be further explored through quantitative research methods. During the data analysis process, participants’ responses were classified into categories that revealed not only the factors that motivated them but also unveiled the challenges they face when utilizing carsharing schemes. These factors were the following: familiarity, comfort, mindset, everyday life, usability, and economy. Next, these factors were analyzed further based on the personal characteristics of the respondents preparing the ground for quantitative research in future research initiatives. Notably, the present findings could be beneficial to operators, policymakers, and stakeholders endeavoring to appraise shared mobility schemes in Greece and Mediterranean countries in general.
Lambros Mitropoulos, Christos Karolemeas, Stefanos Tsigdinos, Avgi Vassi, and Efthimios Bakogiannis
Elsevier BV
Ioannis Chatziioannou, Alexandros Nikitas, Panagiotis G. Tzouras, Efthimios Bakogiannis, Luis Alvarez-Icaza, Luis Chias-Becerril, Christos Karolemeas, Stefanos Tsigdinos, Pontus Wallgren, and Oskar Rexfelt
Elsevier BV
Stefanos Tsigdinos, Aglaia Sfakaki, Anastasia Zachou, Yannis Paraskevopoulos, Panagiotis Tzouras, and Efthimios Bakogiannis
Springer Nature Switzerland
Stefanos Tsigdinos, Yannis Paraskevopoulos, Panagiotis Tzouras, Efthimios Bakogiannis, and Thanos Vlastos
Elsevier BV
Eleni Tzamourani, Panagiotis G. Tzouras, Stefanos Tsigdinos, Ioannis Kosmidis, and Konstantinos Kepaptsoglou
Informa UK Limited
Yannis PARASKEVOPOULOS and
European Association of Geographers, EUROGEO ivzw
The social, historical and spatial processes that shape the centrality pattern of a city have always been at the core of urban studies that explore the interplay between network configuration, human activities and the planned/formal form of the city. However, there is far limited research dealing with historic metropolitan areas, and exploring these links under a quantitative geospatial approach. In this article, we aim to address this gap by the exploring the different centrality aspects of Metropolitan Athens and more specifically by (a) providing a reproducible methodology for identifying active and network centralities, as defined by land-use pattern and space syntax respectively, (b) exploring the geospatial signature of the planned and organic form of Metropolitan Athens as framed by its institutional spatial framework as well as its active and network centrality, respectively, (c) investigating the role of network centrality, in shaping the existing active centrality pattern. The research results highlighted that the organic patterns are similar with the planned ones, mainly in the central and western part of the study area, whereas in the rest parts considerable differences are encountered. Notably, a study, in a metropolitan area with such extent and diverse characteristics (e.g., urban morphology, land uses), is currently missing from relevant literature. Hence, this work could shed light on urban development issues, revealing meaningful insights on how similar metropolitan cities in the Mediterranean region are assembled. Last, it could function as a valuable input for future planning suggestions.
Christos Karolemeas, Stefanos Tsigdinos, Efthimios Bakogiannis, and Alexandros Nikitas
Elsevier BV
Christos Karolemeas, Avgi Vassi, Stefanos Tsigdinos, and Dr. Efthimios Bakogiannis
Elsevier BV
Stefanos Tsigdinos, Yannis Paraskevopoulos, and Efthymia Kourmpa
Elsevier BV
Stefanos Tsigdinos, Panagiotis G. Tzouras, Efthimios Bakogiannis, Konstantinos Kepaptsoglou, and Alexandros Nikitas
Elsevier BV
Stefania Zoika, Panagiotis G. Tzouras, Stefanos Tsigdinos, and Konstantinos Kepaptsoglou
Elsevier BV
S. Tsigdinos, C. Karolemeas, E. Bakogiannis, and A. Nikitas
Elsevier BV
Alexandros Nikitas, Stefanos Tsigdinos, Christos Karolemeas, Efthymia Kourmpa, and Efthimios Bakogiannis
MDPI AG
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected our cities in monumental ways with no sector likely being more severely impacted than transport. Lockdowns, physical spacing, transport restrictions and stay-at-home guidelines have transformed personal mobility and highlighted the mistakes of an unbalanced pro-car culture that defined a century of urban planning. One immediate effect of the virus in relation to travel demand and supply was the emergence of active travel modes because of their unique ability to provide a socially distanced way of transport. Cycling is one of the modes that has enjoyed significant attention. Numerous cities have reallocated street and public space to cyclists and introduced pro-bike interventions like pop-up cycle lanes, e-bike subsidies, free bike-share use and traffic calming measures. This newly found outbreak-induced momentum creates an opportunity to establish a new ethos that allows the promotion of potentially permanent strategies that may help cycling to be (re-)established as a robust, mainstream and resilient travel mode for inner city trips and not as a second-class alternative operating under the automobile’s giant shadow. This paper provides a state-of-the-art description of the anti-COVID cycling-friendly initiatives that have been introduced globally, the successes and failures of these initiatives, the lessons learnt that can help us redefine the bicycle’s role in local societies today and a best cycling practice policy guide for planning a more bike-centric future.
Stefanos Tsigdinos and T. Vlastos
Abstract Street functional classification comprises a principal element of urban road networks. However, the conventional approach that has dominated urban and transport planning, has given main priority on car movement. This condition lead to significant negative impacts on cities such as major severances to the urban fabric, low multimodality level, inaccessible road environment for pedestrians and cyclists. As a result, it is clear that we should embark into a new hierarchy system, enhancing and supporting sustainable transport modes. The current research intends to develop a method that determines the strategic road network of a metropolitan region based on a multicriteria analysis process (MCA). More specifically, at first, we created 3 alternatives of re-defining the current strategic road network of the study area. These alternatives propose 3 different strategic network classifications according to several parameters; i) connectivity properties, ii) route position in the road network, iii) urban interest, iv) existence of major public transport lines and metropolitan cycling routes, as well as v) their existing classification condition. Afterwards, we evaluate these alternatives using multicriteria analysis (REGIME method) in order to choose the most efficient one. The evaluation process uses various criteria which cover a considerable range of urban and transport issues. The selected alternative adopts a two-dimensional matrix approach, which addresses the significance of the routes and the modes prioritized. The method is applied to the metropolitan area of Athens in Greece. It is worth noting that the selected alternative can bring about notable benefits for the Greek capital, such as increase of walking, cycling and public transport share, improvement of traffic safety level, greener mobility (less GHG emissions and energy consumption), enhancement of the urban realm, better accessibility and coherence of the urban fabric. The method proposed, is a human-oriented planning tool which provides priority to sustainable modes and could be replicated to other areas with similar characteristics as well.
S. Tsigdinos, A. Nikitas, and E. Bakogiannis
Elsevier BV
Abstract The current paper aims at examining ways to support sustainable modes in a metropolitan environment, as a means of enhancing accessibility and social equity. The study adopts a mix-method approach consisting of field observations, literature review and secondary data analysis. Through this approach, the research develops a method for reconceptualising urban car traffic arterials and provide a coherent plan for transforming them into multimodal corridors. The multimodal corridors are proposed based on their position in the street network, their connectivity properties, their urban characteristics, the existence of major public transport routes or dedicated cycling routes and their current street classification. Furthermore, the paper suggests design methods referring to each corridor category under the principles of sustainable mobility (e.g. cross-sections). The study area is the metropolitan area of Athens (AMA) in Greece. The implementation of the proposed interventions is expected to generate significant positive impacts such as the promotion of active modes and public transport, unification of the urban fabric, accessibility improvements, environmental protection and urban liveability benefits. The creation of multimodal corridors constitutes an alternative planning tool which prioritises walking, cycling and public transport. The method developed in this case study could be applied to other study areas with similar characteristics and may be a prototypical “roadmap” for policy-makers, planners and local communities, aiming to transform car-dominated corridors to multimodal ones.
Christos Karolemeas, Stefanos Tsigdinos, Panagiotis G. Tzouras, Alexandros Nikitas, and Efthimios Bakogiannis
MDPI AG
Shifting from a fossil-fueled to an eco-friendly vehicle fleet in cities could pave the way towards a more sustainable future. Electric Vehicles (EVs) should thus be prioritized, so that they could replace conventional vehicles gradually. In this context, an EV-accommodating infrastructure, which ensures the functionality of the entire system, is essential. This study aims to develop a methodological framework to identify suitable locations for the deployment of EV charging points in urban environments. To meet this objective, we acquired a mixed method approach including a systematic literature review, 12 semistructured stakeholder interviews which were thematically analyzed, and an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The outcome is a spatial model function, which consists of parameters and weights for estimating the suitability of each urban road link that will allow the establishment of EV charging points. Results show that the key location selection factors are: transport hubs, marked or controlled parking spaces, and points of interest. The less significant factor is public services. Therefore, there is a preference, in stakeholder level, for transport features over the land use ones (69% over 31%). Although this research is conducted in Greece, we intend to suggest methods and generate valuable findings that may be valid and generalizable for a more global context.
Panagiotis Tzouras, Stefanos Tsigdinos, Christos Karolemeas, and Efthimios Bakogiannis
Springer International Publishing
Efthimios Bakogiannis, Thanos Vlastos, Konstantinos Athanasopoulos, Georgia Christodoulopoulou, Christos Karolemeas, Charalampos Kyriakidis, Maria-Stella Noutsou, Trisevgeni Papagerasimou-Klironomou, Maria Siti, Ismini Stroumpou,et al.
MDPI AG
Cycle-tourism seems to be an emerging touristic model in many countries, including Greece. Although the infrastructure is limited, entrepreneurship can support the development of such tourism sector, as cycle-tourists have specific needs to be met during an excursion. Thus, it would be helpful if stores that meet specific prerequisites could be certificated as cycle-friendly companies. In order for such certification to be developed, it is necessary for those parameters to be defined. This paper focuses on that topic and such criteria were identified through in-depth interviews with cycle-tourists and cycle-tour operators. Through this research, conclusions were derived about the criteria according to which cycle-tourists in Greece select stores and accommodation during an excursion. Those selection parameters were transcribed to indicators that will be used in order to develop the certification at the next phase of the research. Moreover, conclusions were compared with outcomes of similar international studies. It was found that cycle-tourists are interested in specific services, regardless of the country in which they live or travel. Besides conventional touristic activities, the importance of small retail stores in remote villages acting as meeting points with local people and culture was highlighted.
Efthimios Bakogiannis, Thanos Vlastos, Konstantinos Athanasopoulos, Avgi Vassi, Georgia Christodoulopoulou, Christos Karolemeas, Stefanos Tsigdinos, Charalampos Kyriakidis, Maria-Stella Noutsou, Maria Siti,et al.
MDPI AG
Cycling tourism is an environmentally friendly way to explore a destination. Nowadays, it is becoming more and more popular worldwide, since it permits an in-depth communication both with nature and people. In this context, the aim of this paper is to explore, in detail, mainly the environmental motivators of cycling tourists, and their significance, in Greece, by using qualitative social research (in-depth interviews and focus groups) and participative analytical hierarchical process. The results show that regarding physical environment, the element which attracts cycle tourists the most is the variety of scenic views along their route. Existence of lakes, rivers and beaches were also valued. On the contrary, “Biodiversity” and “Untouched natural landscapes” were ranked low as a description of the quality of the natural environment. However, the rise of cycling tourism depends considerably on the appropriate infrastructure, namely roads with low slopes, appropriate quality of surfaces and cycling infrastructure. Planners, policy-makers, and competent authorities should give emphasis on the critical factors in order to enhance cycling tourism, thus resulting in positive multiplying effects such as environmental protection and economic growth.
Yannis PARASKEVOPOULOS, , Stefanos TSIGDINOS, Maria ANDRAKAKOU, , and
European Association of Geographers, EUROGEO ivzw
Everyday human activity is crucially defined by walkability at neighbourhood level, and accordingly, this paper sets a dual focus: to map basic pedestrian accessibility infrastructure and to investigate the factors influencing walking patterns in such areas. The study area is Koukaki, a neighborhood in Athens’ municipality. The methodological framework consists of four steps: a) Evaluating neighbourhood-level pedestrian accessibility with emphasis on vulnerable users, b) Selecting a centrality cluster, as an area of dense human activity (high density of non-residential uses), c) data collection of pedestrian flow and d) interpretation of the results. The results showed that human flows have substantial positive correlation with commercial activities, but negative with residential uses. In addition, they appear to have strong positive correlation with local network centrality (space syntax), sidewalk width and functional density. Finally, the evaluation of pedestrian infrastructure demonstrated that pedestrian movement cannot be adequately sustained in Koukaki, thus needing serious interventions.