Introduction: Most previous studies have mainly focused on utilitarian or recreational walking and discussed their relationship with the built environment. The point is that most of these studies have not been sensitive to the motivation of trips while travel is a complicated behavior and individuals may have different degrees of motivation and utility for a given trip purpose. Accordingly, because of different utilities of travel, it is more likely that the built environment differently affects walking behavior. Purpose: This paper aims to clearly distinguish between utilitarian and hedonic walking and then explores how the built environment influences walking behavior. Method: Using data collected from 863 respondents in six diverse neighborhoods in Isfahan, Iran, we developed negative binomial models for two types of walking; namely, utilitarian and hedonic walking. Results: The results reveal some interesting insights: first, both models of walking confirm that neighborhood preferences do not play any important role in explaining walking behavior in our context, inconsistent with previous studies. Second, the objective and perceived built environment factors differently contribute to explaining both types of walking. In this regard, utilitarian walking is affected by mixed land use, residential density, facility accessibility, attractiveness, and walking infrastructure; and hedonic walking is influenced by mixed land use, attractiveness and safety. Third, attitudinal factors and socio-demographic variables also differently appear in the models of walking. Conclusion: The results confirm that it is essential to be more sensitive to the motivation of trips, and suggest a clear policy implication: the individuals' reactions toward policies intended to increase walking frequency depend partly on the utility for walking.
In recent years, the effects of climate change have become more noticeable in Iran, especially in big cities. In particular, climate-related flood risk is increasingly recognized as a potential threat in the capital city of Tehran. Accordingly, the present study aimed to provide a framework/assessment tool to measure Tehran’s resilience to flood risks. To this end, 21 professionals from different disciplines were selected through a purposive sampling procedure and were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The analysis procedure resulted in the identification of 3 themes, 15 categories, 40 subcategories, and 235 codes. The themes were social, economic, and organizational; The identified categories were culture and education (since culture is something to be learned through formal and informal education this component has two features: culture and education), participation, trust, attitude, solidarity, resources, empowerment, flexibility, credit, supervision, intercommunication, rules, specialization, and research. Validation of the indicators and their usability based on the opinions of local experts was used to calibrate the assessment tool and ensure its context-sensitivity. The results of this research can help planners and policymakers to increase their awareness of flood resilience. The approach taken in this research may also be useful for developing flood resilience assessment tools in other Iranian cities as well as in other cities of the Global South with similar conditions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.