Why do people walk? Role of the built environment and state of development of a social model of walkability

Bozovic, T; Hinckson, E; Smith, M

Abstract

A significant body of evidence exists on walking as a behaviour. The socio-ecological framework outlines multi-level influences encompassing individual, social/ organizational, and environmental aspects. “Walkability” is much discussed, but it is not clear what characteristics of the built environment (BE) contribute to it: a variety of scales, tools and indices offer to assess it, but factor in different aspects.
This review of reviews examines (1) walkability as a concept; (2) specific associations identified between BE features and walking behaviour in adults living in urban areas; (3) the ways BE features are operationalised; and (4) the understanding of how individual factors can moderate this relationship. It focuses on walking as a behaviour in adults living in urban areas and seeks to inform a theoretical model.
Walkability was generally recognised as a complex and contested phenomenon. There is no holistic and consensual model of walking as a behaviour, although promising theoretical developments have been identified. Evidence of associations with BE features was difficult to compare due to the diversity of features and confounders examined. Although the relative importance of different features of the BE remains unclear, prior theoretical developments and identified evidence helped develop a new Social Model of Walkability. The model links BE to perceptions, individual characteristics and walking behaviour, disentangling respective roles of objective and perceived BE characteristics, and confounding factors. This theoretically derived framework can support further investigation and be tested in empirical research.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 1, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Apr 12, 2020
• Publication Date: Apr 12, 2020
• Deposit Date: Jul 28, 2022
• Journal: Travel Behaviour and Society
• Print ISSN: 2214-367X
• Electronic ISSN: 2214-367X
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 20
• Pages: 181-191
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tbs.2020.03.010
• Keywords: Transportation; walking; transport; environment; mobility; social models; walkability
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9710371
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214367X19301152?via%3Dihub
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Why do people walk? role of the built environment and state of development of a social model of walkability; Journal Title: Travel Behaviour and Society; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tbs.2020.03.010; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies.