Abstract
BackgroundWalkability describes the capacity of the built environment to support walking for various purposes. This paper describes the construction and validation of two objective walkability indexes for Sydney, Australia.MethodsWalkability indexes using residential density, intersection density, land use mix, with and without retail floor area ratio were calculated for 5,858 Sydney Census Collection Districts in a geographical information system. Associations between variables were evaluated using Spearman’s rho (ρ). Internal consistency and factor structure of indexes were estimated with Cronbach’s alpha and principal components analysis; convergent and predictive validity were measured using weighted kappa (κw) and by comparison with reported walking to work at the 2006 Australian Census using logistic regression. Spatial variation in walkability was assessed using choropleth maps and Moran’s I.ResultsA three-attribute abridged Sydney Walkability Index comprising residential density, intersection density and land use mix was constructed for all Sydney as retail floor area was only available for 5.3% of Census Collection Districts. A four-attribute full index including retail floor area ratio was calculated for 263 Census Collection Districts in the Sydney Central Business District. Abridged and full walkability index scores for these 263 areas were strongly correlated (ρ=0.93) and there was good agreement between walkability quartiles (κw=0.73). Internal consistency ranged from 0.60 to 0.71, and all index variables loaded highly on a single factor. The percentage of employed persons who walked to work increased with increasing walkability: 3.0% in low income-low walkability areas versus 7.9% in low income-high walkability areas; and 2.1% in high income-low walkability areas versus 11% in high income-high walkability areas. The adjusted odds of walking to work were 1.05 (0.96–1.15), 1.58 (1.45–1.71) and 3.02 (2.76–3.30) times higher in medium, high and very high compared to low walkability areas. Associations were similar for full and abridged indexes.ConclusionsThe abridged Sydney Walkability Index has predictive validity for utilitarian walking, will inform urban planning in Sydney, and will be used as an objective measure of neighbourhood walkability in a large population cohort. Abridged walkability indexes may be useful in settings where retail floor area data are unavailable.
Highlights
Walkability describes the capacity of the built environment to support walking for various purposes
Study area The Sydney Walkability Index was based on the Sydney Metropolitan Region of Australia, which covers an area of 3685 km2 and had a population 3.7 million in 2006 [29]
Index values were calculated for 2006 Australian Census Collection Districts and temporally referenced to calendar year 2007 to coincide with the midpoint of the baseline data collection of the New South Wales (NSW) 45 and Up Study [26]
Summary
Walkability describes the capacity of the built environment to support walking for various purposes. Increasing local opportunities for transport-related walking through strategic land development and use is a cornerstone of transport and urban policies, such as the Sydney Metropolitan Strategy [7]. This strategy focuses on the two decades of urban development in Sydney, Australia, and identifies the need to design new urban growth to support active walking and cycling [7]. Walking for utilitarian purposes is associated with the built environment attributes of proximity of destinations, mixed land use, connectivity and population density [2,5,8,9,10]. Connectivity is maximised by traditional grid-based networks as they provide more direct and greater choice of routes resulting in more proximal residential and non-residential destinations [2]
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