Developing and validating an abbreviated version of the Microscale Audit for Pedestrian Streetscapes (MAPS-Abbreviated)

Abstract

Purpose Macroscale built environment factors (e.g., street connectivity) are correlated with physical activity. Less-studied but more modifiable microscale elements (e.g., sidewalks) may also influence physical activity, but shorter audit measures of microscale elements are needed to promote wider use. This study evaluated the relation of an abbreviated 54-item streetscape audit tool with multiple measures of physical activity in four age groups. Methods We developed a 54-item version from the original 120-item Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes (MAPS). Audits were conducted on 0.25-0.45 mile routes from participant residences toward the nearest nonresidential destination for children (N=758), adolescents (N=897), younger adults (N=1,655), and older adults (N=367). Active transport and leisure physical activity were measured with surveys, and objective physical activity was measured with accelerometers. Items to retain from original MAPS were selected primarily by correlations with physical activity. Mixed linear regression analyses were conducted for MAPS-Abbreviated summary scores, adjusting for demographics, participant clustering, and macroscale walkability. Results MAPS-Abbreviated and original MAPS total scores correlated r=.94 The MAPS-Abbreviated tool was related similarly to physical activity outcomes as the original MAPS. Destinations and land use, streetscape and walking path characteristics, and overall total scores were significantly related to active transport in all age groups. Street crossing characteristics were related to active transport in children and older adults. Aesthetics and social characteristics were related to leisure physical activity in children and younger adults, and cul-de-sacs were related with physical activity in youth. Total scores were related to accelerometer-measured physical activity in children and older adults. Conclusion MAPS-Abbreviated is a validated observational measure for use in research. The length and related cost of implementation has been cited as a barrier to use of microscale instruments, so availability of this shorter validated measure could lead to more widespread use of streetscape audits in health research.

Affective experiences of built environments and the promotion of urban walking

“…Poor quality of pedestrian infrastructure and building height can trigger negative affective outcomes such as frustration, stress, and concerns, thus supporting ideas by Evans (2003). These results help to explain previous findings that low-quality pedestrian infrastructures (Cain et al, 2017;Kerr et al, 2016) and building height (Cain et al, 2017;Borst et al, 2008) were associated with negative self-reports. In addition, it was found that visual pollutionadvertisements, shops, and signboardswas also associated with perceived negative affect.…”

“…The present paper has demonstrated that traffic can harm psychological wellbeing specifically, and environmental affect was shown to be the key element that encouraged certain avoidance behaviours (Russell and Lanius, 1984). This helps the understanding of previous research findings that wide and busy roads are associated with low walking levels (e.g., Cain et al, 2017). Results highlight that noise and air pollution, interruptions to walking flow, and safety and power concerns might be among the reasons why some people do not walk in or avoid congested routes.…”

Is walkability equally distributed among downtowners? Evaluating the pedestrian streetscapes of eight European capitals using a micro-scale audit approach

“…Although micro-scale built environment attributes, such as sidewalk quality, crossings, lighting, aesthetics, etc., have been less studied than the macro-scale environment details in walkability research, they can be easily modified and might have a direct impact on population's physical activity levels [16,17]. For example, Cain et al [18] found that micro-scale environmental features were correlated significantly and positively to objectively measured physical activity across all ages.…”

Smart Pedestrian Network: An Integrated Conceptual Model for Improving Walkability

“…Microscale walkability approaches at the level of streetscapes have also been developed for evaluating walkability [22,23,24]. Objective measures have been predominantly used in walkability research by developing walkability audits [25][26] and indexes [27,28,29] that evaluate and score the conditions provided to pedestrians. Such objective measures have been supported in Geographic Information Systems [30][31], multi-criteria analysis [25,32], virtual technologies [29,33], Web-based services, such as WalkScore, among others.…”