Gendered walkability: Building a daytime walkability index for women

Abstract

Urban walkability is influenced both by built environment features and by pedestrian demographics. Research has shown that factors influencing women’s walking differ from those affecting men’s. Using a mixed-method approach, this study creates a new women-specific, GIS-based walkability index using San Francisco as a case study, and answers two questions: Which variables most influence women’s propensity to walk? And Does the leading walkability index, Walk Score, reflect women’s walkability? Focus group participants (n=17) ranked crime, homelessness and street/sidewalk cleanliness as the three most influencing factors on women’s walkability, accounting for 58% to 67% of the Women’s Walkability Index’s total score. The least walkable areas in San Francisco, according to this index, are rated as some of the most walkable neighborhoods in the city by Walk Score, despite high crime and homelessness density. Walk Score is negatively correlated with the new Women’s Walkability Index (Spearman’s rho = -0.585) and inaccurately represents women’s walkability. If the new index accurately captures the reality of women’s walking, then some of the most widely accepted conventions about what kind of areas promote walking could be inaccurate when it comes to women.

Creating Walking Led Transit Stations for Women in Malaysia

“…The time taken for walking will be shorter if the space to walk is free from barriers. This result corresponds to Adkins et al (2017), Adlakha et al (2015) and Golan et al (2019) where they stated that lively and barrier-free streets inspire more walking.…”

“…Women's walkability is significant and closely related to behaviour that encourages women to walk. Their walkability in daily life maybe differs from men (Golan et al 2019) because women prefer to walk for many purposes, including house errands, services, and social activities. Based on the survey, the results of a co-occurrence network analysis have shown that a majority of the respondents highlighted words related to facilities in the LRT.…”

“…Factors affecting walkability usually consist of land use mix, street connectivity, residential density, and visual appeal. As supported by Golan et al (2019), walkability is influenced by built environment features such as pedestrian amenities, land-use mix, cleanliness and proximity to destinations. Adlakha et al (2015) further highlighted built environment features that are attractive and diverse will support walking and eventually, the use of public transit.…”

“…The influences of these non-built environment factors however have not received adequate attention in the literature (Adkins et al 2017). As argued by Golan et al (2019), urban walkability is largely influenced both by built environment features and non-built environment factors such as pedestrian demographics. The authors further argued that factors influencing women's walkability differ from those affecting the men's.…”

Statewide Analysis of Individuals’ Exposure to Business Establishments and Active Travel Behavior

“…Previous research has shown that an area’s land use mix, presence of retail, and the density of activities—in combination with infrastructure and transportation system design—influence walking and cycling ( 10 – 12 ). For instance, auto repair shops and auto dealerships deter walking, and parks generate walk trips ( 13 , 14 ).…”