Measuring Individual Walking Accessibility based on Preference for Urban Walking Environment

Abstract

Walking is the most universal mode of transport for human beings. As walking accessibility is significantly associated with social equity, many urban planners have focused on the improvement of walking accessibility by developing pedestrian environments. However, the pedestrians can have different levels of walking accessibility depending on individual characteristics. However, walking accessibility tends to be measured with distance or travel time, ignoring individual aspects. This paper proposes a method to measure individual walking accessibility based on the preference for the urban walking environment. For an individual-based measurement, we suggest a preference-based IWAI (Individual Walking Accessibility Index) which quantifies individual level of walking accessibility by summing environmental factors multiplied by preference-based weights. We measure the visible proportion of street greenness and sky openness using street view images and obtain the last two factors by integrating traffic data with pedestrian network. Finally, by comparing the street images of the shortest and the preference-based walking accessible path from IWAI, the result highlights that walking accessibility can be measured by individual preference for the environmental factors. This study provides a novel approach for measuring individual walking accessibility based on preference, which support implementing public polices or urban planning for improving walking accessibility.