The perceived importance and objective measurement of walkability in the built environment rating

Abstract

The built environment plays an important role in shaping physical activities and furthering a healthy lifestyle. An obesogenic environment, which promotes obesity through uninviting neighborhood design, can cause sedentary living and environmentally induced inactivity, particularly by reducing walking. Existing measures of walkability consider the distribution and features of potential destinations, but fail to account for key aspects of the built environment design, pedestrian preferences, or various reasons for walking. In this paper, we propose a new assessment method, the Perceived importance and Objective measurement of Walkability in the built Environment Rating (POWER), incorporating pedestrian preferences derived from a walking preference survey. By conducting a university campus-based case study, we developed a quantitative method, the customized analytic hierarchy process, to analyze data from the survey. The customized analytic hierarchy process was used to calculate the perceived importance of various factors. In addition, objective measurements were collected and processed from Geographic Information System (GIS) data and fieldwork. Using both perceived importance and objective measurements, we created a POWER map showing the most walkable and unwalkable places on campus. The outcome of this case study reveals the nuanced spatial variations with regard to walkability. The proposed integral measure creates an improved method for rating the walkability of the built environment. Future applications and limitations are also discussed.