How Do Pedestrians Perceive The Safety, Comfort, And Usefulness Of A Walking Space? An Exploratory Study of Pedestrian Perception

Abstract

Car-oriented development has brought several negative impacts on human quality of life. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to walkability as one of the essential aspects of urban quality of life. In the meantime, most research on walking and walkability still overlooks the role of the pedestrian's perspective in examining walkability. Hence, this research tries to fill the gap in walkability research by exploring the pedestrian perspectives on the safety, comfort, and usefulness of walking space as the three overlapping aspects between walkability and walking needs. This research took context in Suryakencana, Bogor City, Indonesia. This study is a qualitative study case that used interviews, mapping, and field observation to collect information on pedestrian perspectives. By utilizing descriptive analysis, this study found several aspects that contribute to the perception of safety, comfort, and usefulness of walking space. This research is expected to improve the understanding of walking from the pedestrian perspective and to reconsider the salient attributes in developing pedestrian space, hence can accommodate better pedestrians' needs.