Abstract
Walking is important for human health, and street connectivity has been considered as an important attribute to enhance walking. Although street connectivity has been investigated widely in this field of study, the effects of street connectivity on walking have not been investigated with gated neighborhoods’ perspective. Therefore, this study’s objectives are comparing connectivity in gated and non-gated neighborhoods and investigating the association of connectivity with total walking in developing countries. Space Syntax (axial map) has been used to calculate connectivity in 16 neighborhoods, of Karachi, Pakistan. Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire (NPAQ) has been used (n= 1,042 adults) to calculate total walking. Independent sample t-test has been used to check the differences in connectivity and total walking between gated and non-gated neighborhoods, while cross-tabulation (gamma test) has been used to analyze the association. The results show that connectivity and total walking are higher in non-gated neighborhoods than gated neighborhoods, and there is a small but significant association between connectivity and total walking. It indicates that total walking may be correlated to connectivity, therefore, it should be taken into account while designing neighborhoods.
Highlights
Experts in public health emphasize that increased physical activity levels can partially abate the global burden of non-communicable diseases among the populace, a view shared and promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) [1]
The land-use patterns consist of the land-use mix, housing density, and street connectivity [4, 5]
The comparisons of street connectivity between gated and non-gated neighborhoods distinguish between the two types of neighborhoods' morphologies
Summary
Experts in public health emphasize that increased physical activity levels can partially abate the global burden of non-communicable diseases among the populace, a view shared and promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) [1]. Over the past couple of decades, there has been an increased focus in the scientific literature on the association between walking behavior and neighborhood built environment. There are three fundamental characteristics of a neighborhood built environment; land-use patterns, transportation, and design features; which affect physical activity and walking [2, 3]. The land-use patterns consist of the land-use mix, housing density, and street connectivity [4, 5]
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