Perceiving Liveability through the Diverse Aspects of Walkability (original) (raw)
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WALKABILITY AS AN URBAN DESIGN PROBLEM
The planning and design of the walkable environment is receiving more and more attention for its various benefits related to public health, sustainability, economy, or social life. Therefore, there is a growing need for knowledge about the walkability of the built environment. While urban planning, design, and transportation research have also examined walking in urban environments, a recently growing field of research usually referred to as walkability research have been actively investigating the relation between the built environment and walking behavior through correlation analysis. Although one must acknowledge the value of current walkability research to be used as the framework which can make significant contributions to urban design research and practice, it also has a few shortcomings in terms of applicability. There is also a problem that the design factors that are often discussed as promoting walking or creating 'pedestrian-friendly environments' in urban design theories and discourses are often based on little evidence and that these factors have been shown to be insignificant in the quantitative analyses on the amount of walking. This project aims to support urban design knowledge and practice and to contribute to the broader field of "walkability" by refining the methods and measures used to analyze the relation between walking behavior and physical environment. Its goal is to integrate knowledge from the medical field of walkability with urban design research and provide new empirical knowledge about the concrete level in which urban design and architectural practice operates.
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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...
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WHAT DEFINES WALKABILITY: WALKING BEHAVIOR CORRELATES
At one point in time, cities grew as compact and vibrant entities focused on the downtown. In these close-knit environments, residents had the ability to walk or bicycle to destinations due to the fact that they lived in close proximity to where they worked and entertained. However, as development patterns slowly changed, cities began to sprawl outward causing an automobile dominated society that has lead to a number of negative effects, including traffic congestion and increased sedentary lifestyles.
Local walkability index: assessing built environment influence on walking
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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...
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Climate change is a widely accepted fact. Urbanization and industrialization is the main cause of the climate change phenomena all around the world. One of the main problems of urbanization is the increase in growing dependence on automobiles. The main modes of transportation even in the neighbourhood area are the private cars because it is the norm of urbanites to use the motorized vehicles rather than to walk. This shows that the planning and design of the neighbourhood itself can influence the walkability of the housing area. This paper highlights the implication of walkability towards promoting sustainable urban neighbourhood.
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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...
Conceptualising the Indicators of Walkability for Sustainable Transportation
Walkability is becoming a popular buzzword in planning cities that suffers high level of pollution due to, amongst others, emission from automobiles are embracing walkability in order to reap its benefits. In addition to that, walkability is the measure of how satisfactorily the transportation system meets the need of walking of the community. Several studies around the world have put great efforts to highlight the importance of walkability in urban as it is an important measure in determining a better environment. There is a strong relationship between walkability, sustainable transportation and the environment. In addition to that, walkability is a concept that is consistent with sustainable development and transportation system due to its economic, social and environmental benefits. Walkability satisfaction rating within a localized neighborhood can be measured at the macro level with the aid of GIS at the initial development stages. The methods and techniques used are varying and no single walkability assessment tool can be designed to suit different environmental conditions. Different groups of societies for whom the theoretical and practical perception of cities development vary, or different types of neighborhoods with different needs would warrant different approaches. Therefore, this paper examines the methods, techniques and indicators that have been used to measure walkability and highlights the important benefits of improving walkability in the built environment. Moreover it also describes the relationship between walkability, sustainable transportation and environment.
Walkable Environment in Increasing Liveability of a city
Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences (2012), 2012
This paper explains how walkable environment leads to the livable environment of a city. Livability is a concept that has been practiced worldwide. It is equivalent to the quality of living in a city and is determined by many elements. One of the important elements is to create a walkable environment in order to achieve livablility in a city. This study aims (1) to identify the role of walkable environment in making Kuala Lumpur a liveable city and (2) to assess the level of comfort for walking activities by its citizens. Thus, it is crucial to promote a walkable lifestyle where the citizens are given the option to walk comfortably in the city.
Journal of Transport & Health, 2014
Walkability is often researched from the perspective of certain physical features in the built environment. However, for this paper, the point of departure was to also treat walking as a transport mode for reaching destinations and performing every-day activities. A conceptual model addressing both perceptions of the built environment and perceived limits due to every-day activities was used as a standpoint for examining walking behaviour among residents in three neighbourhoods in the city of Malmö, Sweden (N¼ 1001). A principal component analysis for the variables addressing the aspects of the model revealed a resemblance with our theoretical interpretation. The obtained components' relationships with reported walking frequency were examined with binary logistic regression and revealed a significant association for the rating of one factor addressing the perceived limits on walking due to the constraints of every-day activities.