A Path Walkability Assessment Index Model for Evaluating and Facilitating Retail Walking Using Decision-Tree-Making (DTM) Method (original) (raw)

Investigating Built Environment Indicators to Develop a Local Walkability Index

Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs, 2021

Many studies have been conducted over the last 20 years to determine and measure factors that affect the walkability of city streets. Walkability is an essential factor in deciding whether a city is green or sustainable. This paper creates a comprehensive walkability index by analysing built environmental indicators that affect walkability. This research was conducted on mixed land use streets in Cairo, Egypt, combining the results from an online survey and a walkability assessment model developed by multi-criteria decision analysis techniques. The results were based on a three-pillar approach starting with the theoretical background to frame the walkability indicator, numerical assessment over the Egyptian cases using a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique and a qualitative user perception survey. Our results confirm that determining to what extent Cairo's streets are walkable is crucial to enhancing pedestrians' perceptions of the walking environment. Furthermore, the results illustrated the essential factors within the built environment indicators that influence pedestrian walking behaviour. -- This article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Local walkability index: assessing built environment influence on walking

Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series

Walking is a more sustainable transport mode, and governments around the world are trying to deliver highly walkable areas to their people. Due to its importance, walkability has been a research topic in recent years. Vast empirical studies have reported evidence related to the influence of built environment on walking as a major physical activity. Considering the recent literature, this study developed a framework to quantify walkability by applying a set of indicators related to built environment. The indicators were normalised, weighted and integrated into an overall walkability index. The research was conducted on Chaharbagh Street, which is a major and ancient street in the Isfahan metropolitan area, Iran. The proposed framework would be helpful in investigations of whether a specific area is an appropriate option for a car-free plan based on its built environment features. The outcome of the study could be applied to understand issues related to pedestrian infrastructure and t...

Walkability Assessment of Commercial Area in Surabaya City Indonesia

Association for European Transport (AET), 2015

In daily life, nearly all trips need some walking to reach a destination, either done directly or combined with other modes. For this reason, road authority has to provide a friendly environment for walking, especially in urban areas. The concept of walkability is widely used to assess how friendly an area for pedestrian. To make the concept more quantifiable, walkability is measure and indicated through rating that can be used as well to compare the condition of a city or region, and then help to identify areas or specific location for improvement. It is suggested that the provision of the pedestrian facility affects the overall quality and efficiency of urban transport network, and also the mobility and accessibility for residents. This paper applied the concept in assessing the walking environment in the commercial area of Surabaya, Indonesia. In the last decade, the local government has made some improvement on the urban environment and infrastructure, including providing a safe...

Walkability Measures for City Area in Indonesia (Case Study of Bandung)

Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, 2015

For Indonesia cities, walking mode, is not yet preferred one because of lack of walking facilities. Walking assessment is needed to evaluate how the walking infrastructure and environment can encourage more walking. The research objective is to develop is walkability measures using the concept of walkability index with case of Bandung city. The index was considered as the quality parameter of walking facilities for ease to walk. Four city areas were used with nine parameters to assess the index. Based on the parameters, a scoring system was developed and to complete it, a survey form was developed and then filled up as an inventory survey along the dominants walking routes within theoretical catchment area of 800 meters from the center area. Research findings show that index for the study areas spread was relatively same. However, detail investigations on the index's parameters showed that were critical condition for walking facilities improvement.

Walkability: Perceived and measured qualities in action

2014

The research into walkability has two common approaches to the variables: one depends on measuring the spatial configuration of street networks and the other depends on operationalizing urban design qualities such as imageability, enclosure, transparency and complexity by measuring the actual physical environment. Environmental perception has often been a subject in research into wayfinding behaviour, but not so much in research into walkability. In this paper, we argue that it is possible to obtain a more accurate walkability forecast by comparing spatial configuration measures with the environmental perceptions of pedestrians to evaluate their effects on pedestrian movement levels. In order to do this comparison, three case areas were selected, all of which are central retail districts in İstanbul, and which have a similar socio-economic user profile, similar public and private transportation links with the city and a similar relationship with the waterfront. All the three case ar...

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE WALKABILITY CHARACTERISTICS OF KUALA LUMPUR CITY CENTER

The past century has witnessed rapid growth of urbanization affecting the sustainability of cities. Residents become more dependent on automobiles as cities are severed into parts by transportation networks. Hence, one of the alternative approaches to sustainable development is to change from the traditional " traffic oriented " approach to the sustainable " people oriented " approach, also known as walking. Walking is typically the forgotten mode of transport and consequently few analytical techniques are available to help practitioners identify acceptable standard for walking environments. Therefore, the focus of this paper is to investigate the factors that influence people to choose to walk in the city centre of Kuala Lumpur. Approach: This study adopts a mix method approach using Kuala Lumpur city centre as a case study. A questionnaire survey is combined with the qualitative method using field observation to investigate the phenomena in the study area. Result: The findings demonstrate that the city centre in Kuala Lumpur becomes more walkable when the psychological and physical factors that have been considered such as the linkages are connected and the environment is safer, enjoyable and comfortable. It is important to emphasize the quality of walkability in order to achieve urban sustainability. Conclusion: A walkable city will help to enrich the urban environment in terms of economic, social and cultural aspects to achieve a sustainable livable city in a development.

What kind of built environment favours walking? A systematic review of the walkability indices

2016

Neighbourhood walkability provides important insights if an environment encourages (or discourages) walking. One of the most commonly used approaches to measure neighbourhood walkability is the walkability index. Walkability index is constructed as a composite measure of variables that are considered to influence walking. Typically, these include the characteristics of the built environment, the quality of the walking environment (safety and security) and pedestrian characteristics. However, there is a continued lack of a systematic understanding on the association between built environment variables with walking, which has important implications to effective planning and policymaking. By systematically reviewing publications between year 2000 and 2016, this paper examines the various factors of the built environment associated with walking in developing the walkability index, their combination, and the methods adopted to construct as well as evaluate the index. Results show that th...