Weighted assessment of barriers to walking in small cities: A Brazilian case

Abstract

The decision to walk is strongly related to various factors that act in different ways depending on the local characteristics of the built environment and each individual's perception. This study quantifies and ranks the importance of the barriers to walking in a small city, using the best-worst scaling technique based on random utility theory to obtain a weighted index for measuring walkability. The discrete choice models show that sidewalk infrastructure, topography, and street connectivity were considered the most relevant attributes for walking but with different importance when evaluated as incentives or barriers. Discussion of the results with those obtained for a nearby large city shows that morphological characteristics and better safety conditions in smaller cities encourage walking. Still, the quality of sidewalk paving requires greater attention. Simulations of public investments to improve pedestrian urban infrastructure reveal different effectiveness in changing the perception of walkability between central and peripheral urban areas.