Measuring Neighborhood Walkable Environments: A Comparison of Three Approaches

Abstract

Multiple studies have revealed the impact of walkable environments on physical activity. Scholars attach considerable importance to leisure and health-related walking. Recent studies have used Google Street View as an instrument to assess city streets and walkable environments; however, no study has compared the validity of Google Street View assessments of walkable environment attributes to assessments made by local residents and compiled from field visits. In this study, we involved nearby residents and compared the extent to which Google Street View assessments of the walkable environment correlated with assessments from local residents and with field visits. We determined the assessment approaches (local resident or field visit assessments) that exhibited the highest agreement with Google Street View. One city with relatively high-quality walkable environments and one city with relatively low-quality walkable environments were examined, and three neighborhoods from each city were surveyed. Participants in each neighborhood used one of three approaches to assess the walkability of the environment: 15 local residents assessed the environment using a map, 15 participants made a field visit to assess the environment, and 15 participants used Google Street View to assess the environment, yielding a total of 90 valid samples for the two cities. Findings revealed that the three approaches to assessing neighborhood walkability were highly correlated for traffic safety, aesthetics, sidewalk quality, and physical barriers. Compared with assessments from participants making field visits, assessments by local residents were more highly correlated with Google Street View assessments. Google Street View provides a more convenient, low-cost, efficient, and safe approach to assess neighborhood walkability. The results of this study may facilitate future large-scale walkable environment surveys, effectively reduce expenses, and improve survey efficiency.

The Relation between Objective and Perceived Physical Characteristics of a Neighborhood Environment for Older People

“…Interestingly, the significant relationship demonstrated in Taman Selesa Jaya shows residents living in high population density tend to perceive high street connectivity. This signifies that residents living in strata properties tend to experience higher connectivity when compared to residents living in non-strata properties, where higher connectivity in a highly-populated area can influence the resident's level of physical activity (Cerin et al, 2017) where it is a vital characteristic in most walkable neighbourhood environment (Chiang, Sullivan, & Larsen, 2017).…”

Assessing the micro-scale environment using Google Street View: the Virtual Systematic Tool for Evaluating Pedestrian Streetscapes (Virtual-STEPS)

“…Previous research has indicated high levels of agreement between virtual and field audits [10, 15–19] and has shown high agreement between GSV audits and assessments obtained from local residents [20]. Many previous virtual auditing tools have not been specifically designed to measure the micro-scale environment meaning that they aren’t designed to minimize the limitations associated with virtually auditing this environment.…”

Positive Externalities of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation for Human Health: A Review and Conceptual Framework for Public Health Research

“…Climate change adaptation strategies include all activities that increase systems resilience to future climate change impacts such as rainwater harvesting, waste and sewage treatments, natural resources management, food security enhancement, social and human capital development and strengthening institutions [ 26 ]. Other initiatives include the promotion of reforestation and urban green spaces like public parks, community gardens, street trees and other urban green infrastructure solutions in cities such as adding quality urban landscape including sidewalks to manage rainwater [ 134 ] while improving neighborhoods walkability [ 135 ] and using green roofs and green walls in construction [ 136 ]. The provision of incentives for climate-resilient construction [ 127 ] such as encouraging the use of green roofs or walls would provide positive results.…”