Is Seoul Walkable? Assessing a Walkability Score and Examining Its Relationship with Pedestrian Satisfaction in Seoul, Korea

Eun Jung Kim,Jiyeong Kim,Jaewoong Won

doi:10.3390/su11246915

Abstract

Studies have assessed neighborhood walkability responding to increasing interest in academics, practitioners, and policy makers. While Walk Score is a well-operationalized and efficient measure of neighborhood walkability, it is not supported in the Asian context. We thus developed a “Walkability Score” for use in Seoul, South Korea, following the Walk Score algorithm and then conducted a logistic regression for a satisfied versus dissatisfied binary outcome in order to conduct an empirical test. Results showed a significant association between Walkability Score and pedestrian satisfaction. We also explored sample locations and found some discrepancies between Walkability Score and the degree of pedestrian satisfaction. While some sample locations near parks, and rivers and waterfront spaces (but without destinations for walking trips such as banking or shopping) revealed low Walkability Scores, the degree of pedestrian satisfaction was relatively high in these areas. Some samples located in residential areas with well-designed sidewalks and greenery revealed relatively high pedestrian satisfaction, but Walkability Scores were insufficient. This study’s Walkability Score was somewhat valid for approaching the issue, but further research is needed to complete this measure, especially in high-density areas with well-equipped pedestrian infrastructures (e.g., crosswalks, pedestrian streets).

Highlights

Neighborhood walkability has been a highly important policy implementation for ensuring better community outcomes
We examined the differences between the Walkability Score and Walk Score through a t-test
We used a logistic regression for the binary outcome to examine the association between the Walkability Score and pedestrian satisfaction with the walking environment

Summary

Introduction

Neighborhood walkability has been a highly important policy implementation for ensuring better community outcomes. Some have already identified built-environment measures, including population density, residential density, mixed land usage, street connectivity, and destination accessibility [15,16,17,18,19] Most of these studies have suggested that more compact, connected, and mixed neighborhoods are conducive to walking. This study implements the Walk Score algorithm to measure a neighborhood walkability index (hereafter, Walkability Score) and further explores its potential for application in the high-dense urban context of Asian cities, like Seoul. We conduct a comprehensive analysis of these samples to determine any discrepancies between Walkability Score and pedestrian satisfaction

Materials and Methods

Modifying the Walk Score Methodology

Spatial Distribution of the Seoul Walkability Score

Discussion and Conclusions