Factors Affecting Neighborhood Walkability: A Pilot Empirical Study in Qingdao, China

Abstract

As an important part of urban livable environment construction, urban streets are of great significance for daily social interaction and urban vitality. Enhancing walkability is considered an effective design measure to connect places and promote physical health. Compared with previous studies that focused on spatial physical characteristics or transportation infrastructure (such as zebra crossings) of streets, this study aims to identify and analyze walkability indicators that are closely related to subjective perception at the microscale. A questionnaire survey was conducted face to face to collect pedestrians’ perception of walkability indicators, and an exploratory factor analysis was used to extract the main influencing factors. Structural equation models were constructed to verify the stability of the dominating factors and further explore the disparities in different walking intentions and different gender groups. According to the results, Access Safety, Stop Friendliness, and Visual Richness have a great impact on walkability, and women generally have a stronger perception of traffic disturbance and traffic safety than men. Ultimately, based on the results, some useful strategies are proposed for future street renewal. However, the study is limited to the geographical scope of Shinan District of Qingdao. Therefore, the longitudinal comparative analysis of other urban areas of Qingdao or intercity comparative analysis can be carried out in the future so as to provide extensive improvement recommendations.