Attractive Neighborhoods Research Articles

Living smaller: acceptance, effects and structural factors in the EU

This article examines limits to per capita living space (i.e. living smaller and/or sharing living space) as a measure for achieving sufficiency in housing. It studies the acceptance, motivation and side-effects of voluntarily reducing living space in five European Union countries: Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Spain and Sweden. Insights are derived from an extensive collection of qualitative empirical material collected from citizen and stakeholder ‘thinking labs’ across the five case countries. Overall, the data reveal an initial reluctance among citizens to reduce living space voluntarily. They also point to some major structural barriers: the housing market and its regulatory framework, social inequality, or dominant societal norms regarding ‘the ideal home’. Enhanced community amenities can compensate for reduced private living space, though contingent upon a clear allocation of rights and responsibilities. Participants also reported positive effects to living smaller, including increased time for leisure activities and proximity to services. This was often coupled with urbanization, which may also be part of living smaller in the future. Policy relevance Despite many challenges, European Union citizens can accept and embrace smaller living, given the right conditions. In particular, meaningful social contacts, good shared amenities and attractive neighbourhoods can lead to high satisfaction with smaller living conditions. Urbanization can serve as a major driving force to achieve this transformation, but it must be guided. Policy interventions are necessary to ensure a changing housing stock and more flexible use of the existing housing stock. Support for downsizing necessitates a reconfiguration of regulatory norms and economic incentives for building and planning. Equally important, ‘soft’ values of good community and mutual respect need to be fostered in a denser, smaller housing reality. Good governance becomes essential for housing to allow for flexibility in living situations and to manage conflicts. A shift in norms and values towards community and sharing is necessary and this requires active policymaking and good governance of urban spaces.

INFLUENCING FACTORS OF NEIGHBOURHOOD ATTACHMENT: A CASE STUDY OF PENANG, MALAYSIA

Many studies have examined the influencing factors of neighbourhood attachment. However, there are relatively lesser empirical studies regarding the influencing factors of neighbourhood attachment in the aftermath of COVID-19. This study investigates the influencing factors of neighbourhood attachment in two Penang Island, Malaysia neighbourhoods. Neighbourhood attachment is a second-order factor structure assessed by a first-order factor structure that includes place dependence and social bonding. A questionnaire survey with a Likert scale was used to measure the residents’ assessment of economic, physical and social factors as well as neighbourhood attachment level. The findings were then analysed by Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). These results support the theoretical findings in the literature that economic, physical and social factors affect neighbourhood attachment. Social factors are the most substantial influencing factors of neighbourhood attachment among the three factors. Neighbourhood attachment comprises multiple factors and processes rather than just one. Social interactions, cultural practices, environmental factors, and other experiences all contribute to the development of attachment. It can encourage residents to stay for a more extended time or permanently by fostering neighbourhood attachment. Therefore, this study can serve as a guide for community stakeholders to design attractive neighbourhoods that evoke pleasant memories and sentiments, which in turn encourage a sense of neighbourhood attachment.

Update Cheryomushki: perspectives for future housing

The shortage of residential space in many urban areas and the question about how this can be alleviated leads to the existing large residential housing estates, which are of great significance when it comes to providing living space for broad sections of the population in the future. Large housing estates potentially have a valuable role to play in providing housing – the dwellings there are highly adaptable, making them suitable for designing a living environment with few barriers, and they also have a high proportion of open spaces. In order to transform prefabricated dwelling areas into attractive neighborhoods and wanted housing not only the existing urban fabric have to be renovated and new types of dwelling integreated but as well the open spaces shall be improved..

Bringing the vertical dimension into a planar multilevel autoregressive model: A city-level hedonic analysis of homebuyers' utilities and urban river attributes

Throughout history, urban rivers have been regarded as valuable natural elements that satisfy various human needs and affect where people reside. With the increasing expansion of modern cities along the vertical dimension, how urban rivers affect housing values and homebuyers' purchasing decisions in a 3-D context has attracted a significant amount of attention from researchers, environmental practitioners, urban planners, and policymakers. In this paper, we attempt to estimate how homebuyers' utilities are affected by various river attributes and their interactions using the vibrant high-rise apartment housing market in Guangzhou (south China) as a case study. An appropriate 3-D weights matrix is identified using ex ante Monte Carlo simulation combined with ex post validation on the basis of information criteria. By using the identified 3-D spatial weights scheme in a multilevel autoregressive modelling framework, an intricate combination of multidimensional spatial heterogeneity and spatial dependence can be sufficiently accounted for. Our analytical results reveal that river view and riverfront location are considered as negative utilities by Guangzhou's homebuyers, showing the significant negative impacts of river pollution. Yet, the proximity to urban rivers is regarded as a positive utility, revealing that homebuyers enjoy a sense of being close to nature and an emotional bond with traditional water culture. The black-odorous river water itself devalues apartment prices and adds the negative utilities of river view and riverfront location. Riparian greening would command a price premium, as well as mitigate the negative utilities of river view and riverfront location. Although the availability of walking paths and sitting benches along river stretches is generally regarded as a positive utility, it may worsen the negative impact of river view, but enhance the positive impact of river proximity. These results provide deeper managerial insights into how different river attributes influence apartment buyers' utilities and thus help environmental managers (in collaboration with housing developers) design urban river restoration initiatives so as to create pleasant and attractive neighbourhoods for prospective homebuyers.

Consumer housing values and prejudices against living in wooden homes in the Nordic region

So far, consumer housing values have not been addressed as factors affecting the market diffusion potential of multi-storey wood building (MSWB). To fill the void, this study addresses different types of consumer housing values in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden (i.e., Nordic region), and whether they affect the likelihood of prejudices against building with wood in the housing markets. The data collected in 2018 from 2191 consumers in the Nordic region were analyzed with exploratory factor analysis and logistic binary regression analysis. According to the results, consumers’ perceptions on ecological sustainability, material usage and urban lifestyle were similar in all countries, while country-specific differences were detected for perceptions on aesthetics and natural milieus. In all countries, appreciating urban lifestyle and living in attractive neighborhoods with good reputation increased the likelihood of prejudices against wood building, while appreciation of aesthetics and natural milieus decreased the likelihood of prejudices. In strengthening the demand for MSWB and sustainable urbanization through actions in businesses (e.g., branding) and via public policy support (e.g., land zoning), few messages derive from the results. In all, abreast with the already existing knowledge on the supply side factors (e.g., wood building innovations), more customized information is needed on the consumer-driven issues affecting the demand potential of MSWB in the housing markets. This would enable, e.g., both enhancing the supply of wooden homes for consumers appreciating urban lifestyle and neighborhoods and fortifying positive image of wood among consumers especially appreciating good architecture and pleasant environmental milieus.

The role of security and walkability in subjective wellbeing: A multigroup analysis among different age cohorts

The purposes of this study are: (i) to evaluate the effects of security and walkability on subjective wellbeing and (ii) compare these effects among different age cohorts. Using data from a physical activity survey of São Paulo (Brazil), we estimate multigroup structural equation models considering four age cohorts: young adults (18 to 29 years old), middle-aged adults-1 (30 to 45), middle-aged adults-2 (46 to 59) and older adults (60 to 70 years old). The study shows that security and walkability positively influence the subjective wellbeing of all age cohorts. Our findings suggest that improving the wellbeing of a population through urban strategies should focus on providing attractive neighborhoods and increasing people's perceptions of security. The wellbeing of the elderly is the most affected by safety, while middle-aged adults value more walkability comparing to other groups. The youngers' wellbeing seems to be less influenced by these two variables and also influenced less neighborhood satisfaction. Few studies have been conducted on this subject, particularly in cities in the Global South. The results of this study could contribute to debates on wellbeing by promoting cities designed to respond to peoples' emotional needs and behavior.

Barrios chinos: cultura, economía y turismo. Reflexiones sobre transnacionalidad y etnicidad en la era de la globalización

Los barrios chinos, a menudo considerados centros turísticos exóticos, sitios de alteridad o enclaves étnicos donde prolifera la diferencia, son también incursiones globales que evidencian tanto los movimientos sociales transnacionales como los complejos significados urbanos de las ciudades mundiales. La migración masiva de millones de chinos en todo el mundo desde mediados del siglo XIX ha fomentado la creación de puntos de contacto entre las principales ciudades del mundo, generando sistemas urbanos interconectados en ámbitos políticos, económicos, sociales, culturales y turísticos.En este artículo se analizará la incidencia cultural y económica en la concepción de barrios chinos como sitios turísticos y nodos transnacionales en las ciudades globales, haciendo especial énfasis en el caso latinoamericano y determinando la importancia de estos enclaves en la construcción de globalidad y cosmopolitismo en el siglo XXI. La metodología usada comprende un análisis de las tres variables de interés: la cultura, mediante el estudio de datos migratorios y la forma de espacializar estos enclaves a nivel urbano, el turismo y sus posibles consecuencias a nivel social y la economía. Para este último aspecto, se escogen 3 estudios de caso, Nueva York, Buenos Aires y Lisboa y se realiza un análisis de la localización de actividades comerciales y clusters que apoyan la economía étnica mediante el uso de herramientas de análisis espacial.

The Global Financial Crisis and neighborhood decline

The Global Financial Crisis and neighborhood decline

Trade-off relationship between public transportation accessibility and household economy: Analysis of subway access values by housing size

This study examines whether different income groups have different trade-off preferences between public transportation accessibility and income and economic power. In this study, apartments, the most typical housing type in Seoul, were categorized according to size (small, medium, and large) based on the premise that apartment size is a measure of the economic status of an individual or household. Subsequently, the effect of subway accessibility on apartment prices for the three types of apartments was examined through the conventional hedonic price model and the spatial autoregressive combined model, followed by an investigation of the spatial patterns of the effect with a focus on a geographically weighted regression. As a result, this study finds that, although subway accessibility serves as a positive factor in housing location decisions for most socioeconomic classes, the positive effect is not spatially unanimous, indicating that households with relatively robust economic stability preferred housing locations further away from subway stations in pursuit of a more attractive residential environment. Although high-income households trade greater accessibility to public transportation for a more attractive neighborhood environment, middle-income households more actively pursued convenience and the greenness of their neighborhoods. Households with less economic stability preferred neighborhoods featuring relatively low-cost housing and greater accessibility. These results confirm the prevalence of trade-off between public transportation accessibility and housing size in Seoul, Korea. This also verifies that the spatial division along economic class lines is intensifying, and that perspectives on subway accessibility vary depending on consumers' economic status. The results suggest the need for consumer-tailored public transportation policies that consider the residential location patterns of the socioeconomic classes that are dependent on public transportation. This perspective can improve our understanding of how to distribute mass transportation systems spaces in large cities, particularly where the wealth gap is relatively high.

Computer vision uncovers predictors of physical urban change.

Which neighborhoods experience physical improvements? In this paper, we introduce a computer vision method to measure changes in the physical appearances of neighborhoods from time-series street-level imagery. We connect changes in the physical appearance of five US cities with economic and demographic data and find three factors that predict neighborhood improvement. First, neighborhoods that are densely populated by college-educated adults are more likely to experience physical improvements-an observation that is compatible with the economic literature linking human capital and local success. Second, neighborhoods with better initial appearances experience, on average, larger positive improvements-an observation that is consistent with "tipping" theories of urban change. Third, neighborhood improvement correlates positively with physical proximity to the central business district and to other physically attractive neighborhoods-an observation that is consistent with the "invasion" theories of urban sociology. Together, our results provide support for three classical theories of urban change and illustrate the value of using computer vision methods and street-level imagery to understand the physical dynamics of cities.

Gentrifiers in the post-socialist city? A critical reflection on the dynamics of middle- and upper-class professional groups in Warsaw

This article explores changes in residential patterns of middle- and upper-class professionals in Warsaw (considered as potential gentrifiers) during the post-socialist transition and discusses the delimitation of areas where gentrification-type social evolution has taken place. It addresses three research questions: Could the social upgrading seen in Warsaw be labelled as gentrification? What are the mechanisms of change? How have the different socio-professional subgroups that are commonly described as gentrifiers shaped this process? The analysis revealed that only a few areas could be labelled as potentially gentrified. Most social upgrading was due to intergenerational social mobility in situ. The residential choices of potential gentrifiers tended to reflect their attachment to traditionally attractive neighbourhoods and a search for better living conditions, rather than confirmed new consumption patterns and lifestyle. At the urban scale, although potential gentrifiers were attracted by new housing, this was less obvious when analysed at the level of districts. Drawing on gentrification concepts, and the theory of forms of capital (with particular attention given to the specific characteristics of Central Eastern Europe), the multifaceted role of four groups of potential gentrifiers was explored. A group characterised by a high level of economic capital underwent structural changes and significantly expanded into peripheral areas. Specialists working in the arts and culture (typically the pioneers of gentrification) reinforced their presence in several semi-central areas that were originally inhabited by blue-collar workers. Finally, a dynamically developing group of creative professionals appeared as the post-socialist forerunners of social upgrading.

Pride and the city

Pride in one’s city is an individual, and collective as well as institutional response to urban conditions which may be harnessed in support of expanding urban facilities and services. Pride is likely to be felt most keenly by those who have a stake in the city and for this reason anecdotal reporting of urban pride in the media is subject to likely bias in favour of vested interests. In practice however we know very little about urban pride. The vast literature on urbanism does not appear to have identified any role for urban pride let alone indicating which cities gather pride or who among its inhabitants exhibit such prideThis paper applies a multi-level statistical model to large random sample of residents in twelve New Zealand cities. From the results we learn that, although financial stake holding is relevant, urban pride is concentrated more broadly among those whose social and cultural identity is closely tied to the city. Where financial stake holding is most influential is when it is absent, for those experiencing financial difficulties are the most likely to disavow urban pride. Urban pride is a therefore a distributional property of cities in which the currencies are emotional and cultural as well as financial. Urban pride is relatively absent among those who fail to have a stake in the city as well as being weaker among those who live in relatively unattractive cities, and less attractive neighbourhoods. As a barometer of rewards to living and investing in the city, urban pride certainly warrants closer attention than it has received to date.

The Long-term Development of Socio-spatial Differentiation in Socialist and Post-socialist Prague

The article examines how different social and urban processes were reflected in the spatial patterns of three dimensions of population structure (demographic, socio-economic, and ethnic statuses) in Prague during the socialist and post-socialist periods. The article has three main objectives. First, it analyses inertia and change in socio-spatial patterns and evaluates the processes that have influenced them. Second, it investigates how the importance of all three statuses in the spatial differentiation of urban space has evolved. Third, the article focuses on the level of geographical variability as recorded within different spatial scales, and the development of this variability. It examines selected indicators of socio-economic, demographic, and ethnic statuses by employing detailed statistical data on the level of basic settlement units from the Population Censuses held in 1970, 1991, and 2011. The results confirm that the most significant changes in socio-spatial patterns between socialism and post-socialism can be observed for ethnic spatial differentiation. In addition, the city witnessed considerable changes in demographic spatial patterns in both periods, while socio-economic spatial patterns have remained relatively stable. New socio-spatial processes driven predominantly by movements of young and better-off populations have taken place in previously less attractive neighbourhoods. As a result, very different populations often live side-by-side in contemporary Prague.

Alternative strategies for urban redevelopment: A case study in a squatter housing neighborhood of Ankara

Since the 1980s, the redevelopment of squatter housing settlements has been a primary policy focus of the local and central authorities in Turkey. Their strategies have adopted two different models: one approach was not effective at generating redevelopment activity and produced low quality living environments, and the other approach resulted in dislocation and gentrification. The literature stresses three issues. First, redevelopment sites are areas where market forces failed; thus, they are perceived as high risk, low-demand, and low-return investments with high transaction costs. Second, institutions that lower transaction costs boost market forces and increase economic performance in property development. Third, local authorities remain active in urban redevelopment; despite having no direct tools for local economic development, they do have tools for urban development. This study reformulates the basic transaction cost thesis and hypothesizes that local authorities can boost urban redevelopment by making changes to institutions or ‘the rules of the game’ by increasing information flow, positive externalities and perceived returns and by decreasing transaction costs, negative externalities and risks, all of which motivate land owners and house-builders. To test this hypothesis, I have conducted household surveys and semi-structured interviews with house-builders in a squatter housing neighborhood undergoing a gradual transformation. The goal of this study was to search for the impacts of the local authority’s strategies on homeowner inertia, private sector disinvestment and the implications of urban redevelopment. My findings revealed that the local authorities can produce desirable results for less attractive neighborhoods with the help of marketing, institutional strategies and effective land use planning without leading to dislocation and gentrification. Overall, this study suggests that ‘institutional’ strategies are crucial for urban policies and future urban redevelopment activities.

The Neighborhood Quality of Subsidized Housing

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Housing policy in the United States has struggled for decades to assess the relative importance of neighborhood context in the provision of subsidized housing. In this study, we enter the debate over the value and limitations of neighborhood settings and the “dispersal-versus-development” approach by looking at the issue from an alternative perspective: neighborhood access. We provide a large-scale, quantified assessment of the neighborhood context of subsidized housing, with specific attention to six metropolitan areas in the United States. Using data on neighborhood access (measured by a walkability index) and locations of federally subsidized housing, we investigate three primary areas of research: an analysis of the level of access for subsidized housing, the question of whether low-poverty neighborhoods translates to low access, and the degree to which neighborhood access is compromised by an increase in negative factors like crime, poverty, or segregation. We find that federally subsidized housing in the United States is predominantly (72%) in poor-access locations. In addition, we find that low poverty is likely to mean low access, for which voucher holders are not compensated by living in more attractive neighborhoods (indicated by higher housing market strength). However, we find evidence that high-access neighborhoods are compromised by segregation in Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago, but not in Miami, Phoenix, and Seattle.Takeaway for practice: As advocates of the built environment, planners should support a more contextualized approach to housing policy, warranted by the fact that low-income households are often the most affected by physical proximity, or lack of it. In line with this goal, comprehensive plans, zoning regulations, and capital investment priorities could proactively support well-serviced, walkable neighborhoods for subsidized housing residents.

AAn assessment and analysis of indices and factors of sustainable rural housing (Case study: Rural areas in Central District of Ravansar County)

1-Introduction Rural sustainable housing can be one of important indexes in development of rural. Compiling a program in rural sustainable housing district needs identify and analysis of the dimensions and various components of that and this indexes as a plan and essential tool for expression and sustainable of the different dimensions of social, economic and physical housing sustainable have a special place in rural house planning. The quantitative and qualitative status indexes show rural housing and improvement of house planning for a long term horizon. Therefore, identify the most important indexes and the viewing of specify and assessment of indexes and its viewing in rural different centers is an issue this study has raised to answer in its. Housing is something more than an alone physical shelter and all services and necessary public facilities, including for human welfare and must prepared a lien somewhat long and confident for its users. Housing is like physical facilities unit or similar an economic commodity and high durability that also has social role or group and in addition to these, including to resolving of financial needs as status views and also is socio - economic condition of individuals. One of the issues that the attention had shifted to its housing and sustainable development and consistent with its human development. In such the strategy for use of resources and facilities, without destruction are considering. The important that has been consider in the documents of second of meeting human settlements, importance of sustainable settlements and providing adequate housing is for people in the development process. Sustainable housing is housing that is economical appropriate, socially acceptable, Possible in terms of technical and physical and strong and consistent is with environment. The type of housing that the biological needs of current generations based on natural resources, energy efficiency meet and condition attractive neigh borhoods and safe for attention to ecological issues, cultural and economic to require is sustainable housing. 2-Methodology The research method in the study is descriptive –analytical and also measurable .The goal of this research is an application research that has been compound. For data collection two methods of library and documentary and also was used the field method and direct observation. The main tool of this research is a questionnaire which its content validity finally has been approved and reform by the university professor and experts of foundation housing. The statistical society of the research is the heads of households housing units in Ravansar township Central district rural area (2351 people) , thus access to the logical volume of the sample of the Cochran,s formula was used that volume of statiscal society in Ravansar township Central district rural area, it was determined 200 the head of households to answer the questions of questionnaire .In the research for sampling in rurals were used class randomly method. 3-Discussion Complex issues of sustainable development, requires an integrated set and together of recommender (indexes) is in the form of indexes. The indexes should be integrated in the set are made of recommender. The indexes are designed with the global experiences, internal experiences, and proportional to area conditions (localization indexes). After determining indicators and the primary indicators of rural sustainable housing in the study area, to identify the primary the factors infrastructure of the primary indicators of the research was used factorial model. After determining the nature of the factors, for the sustainability of rural housing for the study area is determined; the primary indicators in each factor were combined and each factor as separate in one sample T test were analyzed . 4-Conclusion The results from factorial model show that five factors of economic, welfare, the strength of foundation, compatible with the environment and utilization of effective factors are in sustainability of rural housing. The study of five factors show that economic factor, welfare and the strength of foundation are in somewhat stable condition while the compatible with environment and utilization factors are in unstable condition. 5- Suggestions - More attentions to economic dimension of housing by facilitating qualifications for housing loans, reducing missionary payments for all of the villagers and paying grants to needy villagers. - Education and promotion of rural subsistence actualities such as carpet weaving, dairy productions and etc to increase revenue and enhancing inscription of housing in rural livelihoods. - Use of suitable endemic materials for reducing the cost of housing. - Providing conductor design for villages to building new constructions in the framework of this project and causing no destruction in natural resources (jungles, grasslands and …). - Trash placed in proper locations in studied villages as for unstable index of sensation of residential units in not producing waste materials and application of garbage collection machineries.

The Effects of Transit Corridor Developments on the Healthcare Access of Medically Fragile Vulnerable Populations

Transportation has been identified as a major barrier to healthcare access, particularly, within vulnerable population groups. The level of healthcare access that most population segments have in traditional transit systems may be increased with new initiatives that involve complex and large investments in transit oriented developments (TOD) projects. However, the increasing attractiveness of neighborhoods affected by TOD initiatives may result in the gentrification of vulnerable population segments. These vulnerable segments are likely to be relocated into less attractive neighborhoods characterized by inadequate transit systems. This relocation increases the probabilities of reducing healthcare access for these underserved groups leading to an increase in health disparities. The present discussion calls for research to explore relevant factors that affects these dynamics. A framework that enables the identification of individual factors that affect gentrification processes under TOD initiatives as well as quantifying the effects from these processes is suggested in this paper. A system dynamics framework that allows the understanding of the dynamics associated with this system is suggested in this paper. Critical areas for empirical research are highlighted. These are prerequisites for the effective deployment of initiatives that ensure the mitigation of possible negative impacts on vulnerable populations.

Body Mass Index, Safety Hazards, and Neighborhood Attractiveness

Neighborhood attractiveness and safety may encourage physical activity and help individuals maintain a healthy weight. However, these neighborhood characteristics may not be equally relevant to health across all settings and population subgroups. To evaluate whether potentially attractive neighborhood features are associated with lower BMI, whether safety hazards are associated with higher BMI, and whether environment-environment interactions are present such that associations for a particular characteristic are stronger in an otherwise supportive environment. Survey data and measured height and weight were collected from a convenience sample of 13,102 adult New York City (NYC) residents in 2000-2002; data analyses were completed 2008-2012. Built-environment measures based on municipal GIS data sources were constructed within 1-km network buffers to assess walkable urban form (density, land-use mix, transit access); attractiveness (sidewalk cafés, landmark buildings, street trees, street cleanliness); and safety (homicide rate, pedestrian-auto collision and fatality rate). Generalized linear models with cluster-robust SEs controlled for individual and area-based sociodemographic characteristics. The presence of sidewalk cafés, density of landmark buildings, and density of street trees were associated with lower BMI, whereas the proportion of streets rated as clean was associated with higher BMI. Interactions were observed for sidewalk cafés with neighborhood poverty, for street-tree density with walkability, and for street cleanliness with safety. Safety hazard indicators were not independently associated with BMI. Potentially attractive community and natural features were associated with lower BMI among adults in NYC, and there was some evidence of effect modification.

Sweeping Six Percent Philanthropy Away: The New Deal in Sunnyside Gardens

Built in the 1920s, Sunnyside Gardens, Queens, New York, was a model modern community meant to exemplify best practices in land development, home design, and housing finance. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, many homeowners who had been drawn to the attractive neighborhood faced losing their homes to mortgage foreclosure. Rather than go quietly, they formed a committee, gathered economic survey data, and lobbied federal and state officials, ultimately affecting New Deal legislation. When their lobbying yielded little increased security, they adopted the methods of their rent striking forebears in Manhattan tenements, declared solidarity, and struck for lower mortgage payments. Although hundreds ultimately lost their homes, their example stands as a reminder of the promise of democratic participation in times of crisis.

Associations Between Intrapersonal and Neighborhood Environmental Characteristics and Cycling for Transport and Recreation in Adults: Baseline Results From the RESIDE Study

This study investigated the relationship between individual and neighborhood environmental factors and cycling for transport and for recreation among adults living in Perth, Western Australia. Baseline cross-sectional data from 1813 participants (40.5% male; age range 18 to 78 years) in the RESIDential Environment (RESIDE) project were analyzed. The questionnaire included information on cycling behavior and on cycling-specific individual, social environmental, and neighborhood environmental attributes. Cycling for transport and recreation were dichotomized as whether or not individuals cycled in a usual week. Among the individual factors, positive attitudes toward cycling and perceived behavioral control increased the odds of cycling for transport and for recreation. Among the neighborhood environmental attributes, leafy and attractive neighborhoods, access to bicycle/walking paths, the presence of traffic slowing devices and having many 4-way street intersections were positively associated with cycling for transport. Many alternative routes in the local area increased the odds of cycling for recreation. Effective strategies for increasing cycling (particularly cycling for transport) may include incorporating supportive environments such as creating leafy and attractive neighborhood surroundings, low traffic speed, and increased street connectivity, in addition to campaigns aimed at strengthening positive attitudes and confidence to cycle.