Assessing built environment walkability using activity-space summary measures

Calvin P Tribby

The Ohio State University

Harvey J Miller

The Ohio State University

Barbara B Brown

The University of Utah

Carol M Werner

The University of Utah

Ken R Smith

The University of Utah

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5198/jtlu.2015.625

Keywords: Walkability, activity spaces, built environment


Abstract

There is increasing emphasis on active transportation, such as walking, in transportation planning as a sustainable form of mobility and in public health as a means of achieving recommended physical activity and better health outcomes. A research focus is the influence of the built environment on walking, with the ultimate goal of identifying environmental modifications that invite more walking. A key issue is determining the spatial units for walkability measures so that they reflect potential walking behavior. This paper develops methods for assessing walkability within individual activity spaces: the geographic region accessible to an individual during a given walking trip. Based on objective walkability measures of the street blocks, we use three summary measures for walkability within activity spaces: i) the average walkability score across block segments, ii) the standard deviation, and iii) the network autocorrelation. We assess the method using data from an empirical study of built environment walkability and walking behavior in Salt Lake City, Utah. We visualize these activity-space summary measures to compare walkability among individuals’ trips within their neighborhoods. We also compare summary measures for activity spaces versus Census block groups, with the result that they agree less than half of the time.

Author Biographies

Calvin P Tribby, The Ohio State University

Geography Department PhD Student

Harvey J Miller, The Ohio State University

Geography Department Professor

Barbara B Brown, The University of Utah

Department of Family and Consumer Studies Professor

Carol M Werner, The University of Utah

Psychology Department Professor

Ken R Smith, The University of Utah

Department of Family and Consumer Studies Professor

References

Alfonzo, M.A. 2005. To Walk or Not to Walk? The Hierarchy of Walking Needs. Environment and Behavior 37 (6):808-836.

Agrawal, A.W., M. Schlossberg, and K. Irvin. 2008. How Far, by Which Route and Why? A Spatial Analysis of Pedestrian Preference. Journal of Urban Design 13(1):81-98.

Anselin, L. 1994. Local Indicators of Spatial Association-LISA. Geographical Analysis 27(2):93-115.

Berke, E.M., T.D. Koepsell, A.V. Moudon, R.E. Hoskins, and E.B. Larson. 2007. Association of the Built Environment With Physical Activity and Obesity in Older Persons. American Journal of Public Health 97(3): 486-492.

Black, W.R. 1998. Network Autocorrelation in Transport Network and Flow Systems. Geographical Analysis 24(3):207-222.

Boarnet, M.G., A. Forsyth, K. Day, and J.M. Oakes. 2011. The Street Level Built Environment and Physical Activity and Walking: Results of a Predictive Validity Study for the Irvine Minnesota Inventory. Environment and Behavior 43(6):735–775.

Boarnet, M.G., K. Day, M. Alfonzo, A. Forsyth, and M. Oakes. 2006. The Irvine–Minnesota Inventory to Measure Built Environments: Reliability Tests. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 30(2):153-159.

Brown, B., Yamada, I., Smith, K., Zick, C., Kowaleski-Jones, L., & Fan, J. 2009. Mixed land use and walkability: Variations in land use measures and relationships with BMI, overweight, and obesity. Health and Place 15: 1130-1141.

Brown, B.B., C.M. Werner, J.W. Amburgey and C. Szalay. 2007. Walkable Route Perceptions and Physical Features: Converging Evidence for En Route Walking Experiences. Environment and Behavior 39(1):34-61.

Brownson, R.C., C.M. Hoehner, K. Day, A. Forsyth, and J.F. Sallis. 2009. Measuring the Built Environment for Physical Activity: State of the Science. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 36(4 SUPPL.):S99-S123.

Cerin, E., Leslie, E., Owen, N., & Bauman, A. 2007a. Applying GIS in physical activity research: Community `walkability' and walking behaviors. In P.C. Lai & A.S.H. Mak (eds.) GIS for Health and Environment: Development in the Asia Pacific Region. Berlin: Springer Verlag.

Cerin, E., E. Leslie, L. du Toit, N. Owen, L.D. Frank. 2007b. Destinations that matter: Associations with walking for transport. Health & Place 13(3):713-724.

Coulton, C.J., J. Korbin, T. Chan, and M. Su. 2001. Mapping residents' perceptions of neighborhood boundaries: a methodological note. American Journal of Community Psychology 29(2):371-383.

Cutts, B.B., K.J. Darby, C.G. Boone, and A. Brewis. 2009. City structure, obesity, and environmental justice: An integrated analysis of physical and social barriers to walkable streets and park access. Social Science & Medicine 69(9):1314-1322.

Duncan, M. J., E. Winkler, T. Sugiyama, E. Cerin, L. Dutoit, E. Leslie, and N. Owen. 2010. Relationships of land use mix with walking for transport: Do land uses and geographical scale matter? Journal of Urban Health 87(5):782-795.

Ewing, R. and S. Handy. 2009. Measuring the unmeasurable: Urban design qualities related to walkability. Journal of Urban Design 14(1):65-84.

Ewing, R., S. Handy, R.C. Brownson, O. Clemente, and E. Winston. 2006. Identifying and measuring urban design qualities related to walkability. Journal of Physical Activity & Health 3: S223.

Gallimore, J.M., B.B. Brown, and C.M. Werner. 2011. Walking routes to school in new urban and suburban neighborhoods: An environmental walkability analysis of blocks and routes. Journal of Environmental Psychology 31(2):184-191.

Gebel, K., A.E. Bauman, T. Sugiyama, and N. Owen. 2011. Mismatch between Perceived and Objectively Assessed Neighborhood Walkability Attributes: Prospective Relationships with Walking and Weight Gain. Health & Place 17:519-524.

Getis, A. 2007. Reflections on spatial autocorrelation. Regional Science and Urban Economics 37(4):491-496.

Golledge, Reginald G., and Robert J. Stimson. 1987. Analytical Behavioural Geography. London: Croom Helm.

Hägerstrand, T. 1970. What about people in regional science? Papers of the Regional Science Association 24:1–12.

Howell, David C. 2010. Fundamental Statistics for Behavioral Sciences. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.

Kuijpers, B. and Othman, W. 2009. Modeling uncertainty of moving objects on road networks via space-time prisms. International Journal of Geographical Information Science 23(9):1095-1117.

Lee, C. and A.V. Moudon. 2006. Correlates of Walking for Transportation or Recreation Purposes. Journal of Physical Activity and Health 3:S77-S98.

Lee, C., A.V. Moudon, and J.-Y. P. Courbois. 2006. Built Environment and Behavior: Spatial Sampling Using Parcel Data. Annals of Epidemiology 16(5):387-394.

Leslie, E., N. Coffee, L. Frank, N. Owen, A. Bauman, and G. Hugo. 2007. Walkability of local communities: Using geographic information systems to objectively assess relevant environmental attributes. Health & Place 13(1):111-122.

Miller, H.J. 1999. Measuring space‐time accessibility benefits within transportation networks: basic theory and computational procedures. Geographical Analysis 31(1): 1-26

Mitra, R., and R. N. Buliung. 2012. Built environment correlates of active school transportation: Neighborhood and the modifiable areal unit problem. Journal of Transport Geography 20(1):51-61.

Moudon, A.V., C. Lee, A.D. Cheadle, C. Garvin , D. Johnson, T.L. Schmid, R.D Weathers, and L. Lin. 2006. Operational definitions of walkable neighborhood: theoretical and empirical insights. Journal of Physical Activity and Health 3:S99–S117.

Moudon, A.V. and C. Lee. 2003. Walking and Bicycling: An Evaluation of Environmental Audit Instruments. American Journal of Health Promotion 18(1):21-37.

Peeters, D. and I. Thomas. 2009. Network Autocorrelation. Geographical Analysis 41:436-443.

Rundle, A.G., M.D.M. Bader, C.A. Richards, K.M. Neckerman and J.O. Teitler. 2011. Using Google Street View to Audit Neighborhood Environments. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 40(1):94-100.

Saelens, B.E., J.F. Sallis and L.D. Frank. 2003. Environmental correlates of walking and cycling: Findings from the transportation, urban design, and planning literatures. Annals of Behavioral Medicine 25(2):80-91.

Sallis, J.F., L.D. Frank, B.E. Saelens, and M.K. Kraft. 2004. Active transportation and physical activity: opportunities for collaboration on transportation and public health research. Transportation Research Part A 38:249–268.

Schlossberg, M. 2006. From TIGER to Audit Instruments Measuring Neighborhood Walkability withStreet Data Based on Geographic Information Systems. Transportation Research Record 1982:48-56.

Troped, P.J., J.S. Wilson, C.E. Matthews, E. K. Cromley, S.J. Melly. 2010. The Built Environment and Location-Based Physical Activity. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 38(4):429-438.

Werner, C.M., B.B. Brown, and J. Gallimore. 2010. Light rail use is more likely on 'walkable' blocks: Further support for using micro-level environmental audit measures. Journal of Environmental Psychology 30(2):206-214.

Yamada, I., B.B. Brown, K.R. Smith, C.D. Zick, L. Kowaleski-Jones, and J.X. Fan. 2012. Mixed land use and obesity: an empirical comparison of alternative land use measures and geographic scales. The Professional Geographer 64(2): 157-177.