Browsing by Subject "Walkability"
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Item Assessing built environment walkability using activity-space summary measures(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2016) Tribby, Calvin P.; Miller, Harvey J.; Brown, Barbara B.; Werner, Carol M.; Smith, Ken R.There is increasing emphasis on active transportation, such as walking, in transportation planning as a sustainable form of mobility and in public health as a means of achieving recommended physical activity and better health outcomes. A research focus is the influence of the built environment on walking, with the ultimate goal of identifying environmental modifications that invite more walking. A key issue is determining the spatial units for walkability measures so that they reflect potential walking behavior. This paper develops methods for assessing walkability within individual activity spaces: the geographic region accessible to an individual during a given walking trip. Based on objective walkability measures of the street blocks, we use three summary measures for walkability within activity spaces: i) the average walkability score across block segments, ii) the standard deviation, and iii) the network autocorrelation. We assess the method using data from an empirical study of built environment walkability and walking behavior in Salt Lake City, Utah. We visualize these activity-space summary measures to compare walkability among individuals’ trips within their neighborhoods. We also compare summary measures for activity spaces versus Census block groups, with the result that they agree less than half of the time.Item Association of perceived environment walkability with purposive and discursive walking for urban design strategies(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2021) Hsieh, Hsu-Sheng; Chuang, Min-TaThe relationship between the built environment and walking behavior has been explored extensively. However, little research has been done to either differentiate between walking for transport and walking as activity or that applies urban design tools to walkability improvement based on environment-walking associations. Therefore, this study constructed perceived environment walkability factors to replace unidentified physical environments that varied among individuals and examined their associations with walking to a destination (purposive walking) and walking as activity (discursive walking), using factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Results suggest that residential density, land-use mix diversity, and pedestrian/traffic safety were associated with purposive walking while aesthetics and crime safety were associated with discursive walking. Land-use mix access and street connectivity were common correlates of both walking patterns. This study also explored how to apply urban design tools, including land-use plans, zoning control, and urban design guidelines, to shape a walkable environment based on the environment-walking associations.Item Do children walk where they bike? Exploring built environment correlates of children's walking and bicycling(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2016) Moran, Mike; Plaut, Pnina; Baron-Epel, OrnaPrevious studies examined environmental correlates of children's physical activity. While most of these studies used aggregated physical activity measures (i.e., overall physical activity, active travel), little is known about the contribution of specific environmental attributes to specific types of physical activity. This study examined associations between GIS-based environmental measures and children’s self-reported walking and bicycling. The study area included “traditional neighborhoods” (N=4), characterized by high-density, land-use mix and grid-street network, and "suburban neighborhoods" (N=3), characterized by low-density, land-use segregation, and cul-de-sac streets. Data on children’s physical activity and psychosocial and socio-demographic factors were obtained through a school survey (of fifth and sixth graders) (N=573). Urban-form measures (intersection density, residential density, and built coverage) were significantly positively associated with walking and negatively associated with bicycling. These associations remained significant after controlling for social, intra- and inter-personal factors. These findings suggest that certain environments may encourage children’s walking and hinder their bicycling at the same time (and vice versa) and therefore raise the need for a more clear distinction between child-related walkability and bikeablilty.Item Feedback and the use of land for parking(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Lehe, LewisLand-use patterns are often the result of feedback effects in which one agent's decision both influences and is influenced by urban form. This paper argues that such feedback—of a positive or negative kind—could plausibly arise in the provision of off-street parking. A stylized model is used to illustrate feedback in the case of bundled parking, to note how such feedback may change a neighborhood in the long run and to analyze several policies. A theme is that feedback opens the door to surprising effects that are hard to predict from the status quo.Item Gendered walkability: Building a daytime walkability index for women(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2019) Golan, Yael; Wilkinson, Nancy Lee; Henderson, Jason; Weverka, AikoUrban walkability is influenced both by built environment features and by pedestrian demographics. Research has shown that factors influencing women’s walking differ from those affecting men’s. Using a mixed-method approach, this study creates a new women-specific, GIS-based walkability index using San Francisco as a case study, and answers two questions: Which variables most influence women’s propensity to walk? And Does the leading walkability index, Walk Score, reflect women’s walkability? Focus group participants (n=17) ranked crime, homelessness and street/sidewalk cleanliness as the three most influencing factors on women’s walkability, accounting for 58% to 67% of the Women’s Walkability Index’s total score. The least walkable areas in San Francisco, according to this index, are rated as some of the most walkable neighborhoods in the city by Walk Score, despite high crime and homelessness density. Walk Score is negatively correlated with the new Women’s Walkability Index (Spearman’s rho = -0.585) and inaccurately represents women’s walkability. If the new index accurately captures the reality of women’s walking, then some of the most widely accepted conventions about what kind of areas promote walking could be inaccurate when it comes to women.Item How does neighborhood walkability affect obesity? The mediating role of commute mode(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2021) Yang, Wenyue; Zhen, Xinyu; Zhou, SuhongThe walkability of a neighborhood is closely related to residents’ travel behavior and daily life and, ultimately, their health and wellbeing. Although existing studies in this area have reached some enlightening conclusions, few of them have considered residents’ travel attitudes and preferences, or the mediating role of commute mode. Do travel attitudes and preferences matter in the relationship between neighborhood walkability and residents being obese? How does commute mode work as a mediator? To answer these questions, based on the 2019 travel survey data in Guangzhou, this paper uses the Multilevel Linear Model (MLM) to examine the association between neighborhood walkability and residents’ body mass index (BMI). Furthermore, the Mediation Model is used to identify the mediating role of commute mode in the relationship between walkability and BMI. The results show that (1) travel attitudes and preferences do affect the individual’s BMI through the mediator of commute mode. (2) After controlling the individual socio-demographics and travel attitudes and preferences, neighborhood walkability has a significant negative effect on BMI. Meanwhile, walkability has a significant positive effect on the use of non-private motorized commute modes. Non-private motorized commute modes have a significant negative effect on BMI. (3) The mediating effect of commute mode in the relationship of neighborhood walkability with the individual’s BMI is significant. The proportion of mediation is 32.90%. Insights into the relationship between neighborhood walkability, commute mode, and individual BMI highlight the importance of walkable neighborhoods that encourage people to use healthy commute modes.Item How much is enough? Assessing the influence of neighborhood walkability on undertaking 10-minute walks(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2018) Boisjoly, Geneviève; Wasfi, Rania; El-Geneidy, AhmedNeighborhood walkability is increasingly perceived as an effective way to support individuals’ health, since living in a walkable environment is associated with increases in utilitarian walking. Yet, while people are more likely to walk in more walkable neighborhoods, increased walkability can also lead to walking shorter distances, thus mitigating the positive health outcomes associated with walkable environments. Given that the World Health Organization recommends physical activity to be performed in sessions of at least 10 minutes, the aim of this research is to explore the relationship between neighborhood walkability and individuals’ likeliness of walking in sessions of at least 10 minutes. A multilevel logistic regression is generated using data from the Montreal, Canada, 2013 Origin-Destination Survey. The results show that the probability of walking at least 10 minutes for shopping purposes is equally high in the 80-89 and 90-100 Walk Score neighborhoods. In contrast, car ownership is a strong predictor of walking at least 10 minutes, especially in higher Walk Score neighborhoods. These findings suggest that transport policies aimed at reducing car ownership, combined with land use policies, can be most effective in supporting the minimal 10-minute sessions of walking for shopping purposes. This study provides a nuanced assessment of walkability and is of relevance to researchers and planners wishing to assess and develop policies for increasing health benefits through active transportation.Item Human rights to the street: Ethical frameworks to guide planning, design, and engineering decisions toward livability, equity, and justice(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2021) Appleyard, Bruce; Riggs, WilliamRecently, there has been a renewed interest in statements about people’s rights to our streets. Drawing broadly from the literature and from an examination of a comprehensive collection of these rights, this article works toward establishing a comprehensive ethical framework that can be used to guide planning, design and engineering decisions to support pedestrian rights for street and urban livability. To identify and propose these ethical principles and help achieve optimal livability for individuals, groups and society, we: (a) comprehensively examine the literature to clarify the various concepts of street livability and human rights to the street (as related to a collection of various pedestrian rights statements); (b) explore what is being said in these rights to better understand people’s needs and wants; and (c) provide a roadmap for planners, urban designers, and engineers to address these needs in practice. Building on the previous steps and incorporating business practice literature of Functional Area Ethics, relevant functional areas are identified to help professionals act in support of these pedestrian rights.Item Identifying appropriate land-use mix measures for use in a national walkability index(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2018) Mavoa, Suzanne; Eagleson, Serryn; Badland, Hannah M.; Gunn, Lucy; Boulangé, Claire; Stewart, Joshua; Giles-Corti, BillieWalkability indices can guide planning and policy for more sustainable and livable cities. Land-use mix is an important component of walkability that can be measured in a number of ways. Many land-use mix measures require fine-scaled land-use data that are not always available, especially when analyzing walkability across larger geographic extents. This study investigated the feasibility of calculating a national walkability index in Australia, using metropolitan Melbourne as a case study. The study focused on the dual challenges of selecting an appropriate measure of land-use mix and identifying an appropriate land-use data source. We calculated an entropy land-use mix measure with three different Australian land-use datasets. Our comparison of the resulting land-use mix measures highlighted the differences in the land-use datasets and led to our conclusion that none of the three land-use datasets was appropriate for use in a national land-use mix measure. Therefore, we also developed two new exploratory “intensity” measures of land use — daily living and local living — that were able to be calculated nationally with readily available data. Modelled associations with transport walking and comparisons with the entropy land-use mix measures indicate that these new measures were appropriate for assessing national land use in a national walkability index.Item The impact of walkable environment on single-family residential property values(Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2017) Guo, Yuntao; Peeta, Srinivas; Somenahalli, SekharDue to the impact of urban sprawl, the need for responsible property investing, and the emerging evidence supporting the linkage between walkable environment (in terms of built environment and walk accessibility) and residential property value, there is a critical need to develop systematic methodologies to quantify the impact of walkable environment on residential property value. This study provides a new generalized dissimilarity index for quantifying land-use mix, a key component of built environment, and a new method for measuring a property’s walk accessibility and then links them to residential property values. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models are used to validate these methods by examining the empirical property data in Eastern Adelaide, Australia. The results of the OLS models show that the proposed dissimilarity index and property walk-accessibility method outperform other commonly used land-use mix quantification and walk-accessibility methods in estimating single-family residential property values in terms of the goodness-of-fit and explanatory power. This study provides insights for investors to understand the impact of walkable environment on single-family residential property values to enable them to make more informed decisions on property investment, and for planners to design neighborhoods featuring better walkable environments.