Abstract
Political support for active mobility is growing for many reasons, including land use planning, health, and improved mobility. As the vital part of many cities is their central area, decision-makers need to know what factors are essential for increasing walkability. This paper aims to identify the main factors affecting the walkability of the city centre of Gdynia (Poland). To achieve this, the research design was adjusted to the specificity of the local use case. Based on primary data collected via personal interviews, factor analysis was applied to rule out potential collinearity and reduce dimensions. Logistic regression models were then constructed. The results were compared with the research carried out in other cities. The results show that only two of the analysed factors are significant, namely accessibility and safety. Both are extensive categories and include many subcomponents that are influential among different groups of citizens. Our research also confirms that walkability is a city-specific issue that is influenced by many local factors.
Highlights
Despite there being a number of researches connected with walkability, we opted for an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) instead of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), so as no to have to make any assumptions a priori regarding the structure, as this could lead to a risk of losing some local specifics of walkability in the process
Principal component analysis was adopted as the method of choice for the EFA, as there were no specific prerequisites connected with the type of data
It is difficult to find a widely agreed consensus as to the set of factors determining walkability, but the results presented in Table 4 are pretty similar to the findings of Singh [66]
Summary
Need for the support of active modes. For centuries the cities have been designed from a pedestrian perspective. The development of public transport enabled their spatial expansion, furthered by individual motorisation development. As the car remains the dominant mode of transport for most European cities, the adverse external effects of transportation are concentrated in these urban areas [1]. Problems such as air pollution, noise, congestion, and reduced quality of life are far from being solved [2]. Transport is responsible for a quarter of the E.U.’s greenhouse gas emissions and still growing [3]
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