What Defines Walkability: Walking Behavior Correlates
Public Deposited- Last Modified
- October 24, 2019
- Creator
-
Spoon, Steven
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of City and Regional Planning
- Abstract
- 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. Due to these problems, the city planning and public health professions are now supporting walkable communities that are designed to promote walking and bicycling to nearby destinations. However, the implementation of walkability in an environment has been hindered by the fact that planners and public health practitioners have not adequately determined what measurable variables define walkability. While a number of studies and reports have attempted to define walkability, there are few occasions when similarities exist. Further complicating the task of defining walkability is the difficulty that exists in identifying the strongest correlates of walking. The objective of this paper is to examine the literature focused on walkability and the walking behavior to decipher a compact list of proxy variables from those cited in research that can serve as a working definition of walkability. A synthesis of the literature will also determine if walkability actually produces an increase in walking, and whether this increase is for transportation or recreational purposes. As a result of the findings from these research questions and the literature reviewed in this paper, recommendations for future actions for planners are proposed to help improve the implementation of walkability in the built environment.
- Date of publication
- 2005
- DOI
- Resource type
- Rights statement
- In Copyright
- Advisor
- Khattak, Asad Jan
- Degree
- Master of City and Regional Planning
- Degree granting institution
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Graduation year
- 2005
- Language
- Extent
- 110 p.
- Access right
- Open access
- Date uploaded
- December 10, 2010
Relations
- Parents:
This work has no parents.
Items
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Visibility | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
What_Defines_Walkability__Walking_Behavior_Correlates.pdf | 2019-10-24 | Public | Download |