The Spatial Variations of Relationship between Built Environment and Pedestrian Volume: Focused on the 2009 Seoul Pedestrian Flow Survey in Korea

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Although many studies have documented statistically significant associations between built environments and walking activity in certain Western countries, little research has been done to explore the spatial variations of the relationship between built environment measures and pedestrian volume for Asian mega-cities. With the application of spatial statistics that control for spatial autocorrelation, this study examines the determinant factors of the built environment on pedestrian volume using the 2009 Seoul Pedestrian Flow Survey (SPFS), which includes 10,000 locations across the city of Seoul. As an unprecedentedly large database for pedestrian activity in the Korean mega-city, this survey data provides an invaluable opportunity to explore the relationship between the built environment and pedestrian volume. The analysis results indicate that most built environment variables such as density, diversity, distance, connectivity, and design have statistically significant associations with pedestrian volume in Seoul. However, this study also finds that the relationships between some built environment measures and pedestrian volume have different associations depending on whether they are in residential or commercial zones. This finding indicates that the relationships between the built environment and pedestrian volume should be examined in the context of spatial location and land use characteristics of the case study area.