Factors of Perceived Walkability: A Pilot Empirical Study
We present preliminary results of a pilot empirical study designed to examine factors associated with pedestrians’ perception of walkability, i.e. the perception of the quality, comfort and pleasantness of streets, and their conductivity to walk. Through
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Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering (DICAAR), University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy [email protected] Department of Architecture, Design and Urban Planning (DADU), University of Sassari, Alghero, Italy {dacanu,cecchini,tanjacongiu}@uniss.it 3 CNRS-Lamsade, Université Paris Dauphine, Paris, France [email protected]
Abstract. We present preliminary results of a pilot empirical study designed to examine factors associated with pedestrians’ perception of walkability, i.e. the perception of the quality, comfort and pleasantness of streets, and their conductivity to walk. Through a contingent field survey we collected 18 observable street attributes (independent variables), and a synthetic subjective perception of walkability (dependent variable), for the entire street network (408 street segments) of the city of Alghero in Italy. Regression analysis yields high goodness of fit (R-squared = 0.60 using all 18 variables), and points at 9 out of 18 as the most significant factors of perceived walkability (“useful sidewalk width”; “architectural, urban and environmental attractions”; “density of shops, bars, services, economic activities”; “vehicles-pedestrians separation”; “cyclability”; “opportunities to sit”; “shelters and shades”; “car roadway width”; “street lighting”; R-squared = 0.59). Among those, the first five factors in particular show as jointly most important as predictors of perceived walkability. Keywords: Walkability Regression analysis Walkability perception Urban design Walkability audit
1 Introduction This empirical study contributes to the ongoing multidisciplinary effort to pin down factors, their relative importance and their interactions, relevant for pedestrians’ perception of walkability, that is to say, of the quality, comfort and pleasantness of streets, and their conductivity to walk. In attempt to describe and explain people’s propensity and decision to walk, their choices of pedestrian route and the qualitative perception thereof, scholars have examined a series of factors, related to individual characteristics (e.g. age, gender, income, etc.), mobility opportunities (e.g. availability of public transportation), trip types (purpose, frequency, available time, etc.), and features of the walking environment [1]. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 O. Gervasi et al. (Eds.): ICCSA 2016, Part IV, LNCS 9789, pp. 125–137, 2016. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-42089-9_9
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Our study focuses on this latter family of factors, related to the physical urban environment, and attempts to determine their correlation with the subjective, qualitative perception of the walking environment. Ultimately, the purpose is to provide useful indications both for modelling and evaluating urban walkability [2, 3], as well as for suggesting the most effective levers urban design and planning may be able pull to encourage walking behaviour by improving the pedestrian friendliness of cities [4]. Our study is based on a survey of the entire street
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