Assessment of sidewalk walkability: Integrating objective and subjective measures of identical context-based sidewalk features

Abstract

• We distinguish the influences of sidewalk-level features and neighborhood-level features on sidewalk walkability. • We highlight context-based sidewalk-level features and pedestrians’ perceptions to determine the influential factors of sidewalk walkability. • We examine the differences between objective measures and subjective measures of the identical influential factors. • We assess sidewalk walkability by integrating neighborhood walkability and sidewalk quality. • We identify the determinant features of and strategies for pedestrian-friendly sidewalks. The sidewalk environment directly influences pedestrians’ willingness to walk in a neighborhood. However, the existing audit tools have mixed sidewalk-level features with neighborhood-level features when assessing sidewalk walkability and do not sufficiently consider pedestrian-related contextual and dynamic features. This study proposes a Sidewalk Walkability Assessment of Urban Roads (SWAUR) approach to separate the influences of neighborhood-level and sidewalk-level features on sidewalk walkability, and we highlight the context-based features of sidewalks, including static and dynamic features, as influential factors through observational audit surveys and attitudinal surveys of local pedestrians. These influential factors are quantified by objective and subjective measures to examine their differences in terms of sidewalk quality. Finally, sidewalk quality is integrated with neighborhood walkability to assess sidewalk walkability. A case study of the Daxin area in Shenzhen, China, demonstrates that this approach reveals the actual features influencing sidewalk walkability based on pedestrians’ perceptions or physical qualities. These results can help urban designers and engineers understand the determinant factors discouraging people from walking daily for transport and take appropriate strategies to make specific neighborhoods and sidewalks more walkable.