A Prototype Using Data Analytics for Crowd Management at Football Stadiums
摘要
The ever-growing population in cities and urban areas gives rise to the need to innovate ways for better crowd control and management to forestall potential hazards. There are several locations that have the capacity to contain crowds, especially in urban areas such as malls, places of worship and sporting arenas. One of the sporting arenas that continue to see large numbers of people in attendance, especially in the UK, is football stadiums. In football stadiums today, while the processes of managing crowd are continuously being improved upon, such as the use of turnstiles at gates, seat allocation, e-ticketing, provision of signages and policing, the challenge yet exists as the occurrence of incidences that have led to loss of lives and property are still being recorded. The aim of this research was to investigate the use of new technologies to improve crowd management and visitor experience at football stadiums in the UK. Furthermore, a prototype of a mobile application was developed to facilitate this. A survey was conducted among stadium visitors and staff to assess certain parameters regarding the prototype design. The results gave a clearer insight into the required features of the prototype. These features include real-time notifications, finding friends and family at the stadium, reporting issues of violence, medical emergencies, and navigation features. A usability test and survey were administered to potential users of the application to verify the relevance of the application. The results obtained also outlined areas for future study in crowd management research.