Walkability Assessment in a Rapidly Urbanizing City and Its Relationship with Residential Estate Value

Abstract

Walkability has increasingly been recognized as an important factor for sustainable urban development that, however, has seldom been investigated in rapid urbanizing cities, especially in the Asian context. This paper assessed walkability in Futian District in the central area of Shenzhen, which has undergone very rapid urbanization within a short period of time. Walkability was assessed for 2013 and 2018 using a walkability index adapted from Walk Score. It was compared with housing prices of 215 randomly selected residential buildings, to further explore the relationships between walkability and residential estate value, provided as one practical application of the assessment of walkability in urban management. Our results show that Futian District has low walkability level, although walkability has been generally improved from 2013 to 2018. A high spatial variation of walkability level within this area was observed in both years. Overall, there was a negative relationship between walkability and housing prices (significant only in 2018), which is inconsistent with studies elsewhere. The results suggest that the housing prices in Futian District are more strongly influenced by other factors rather than by walkability. In addition, the ability of the walkability model to explicitly delineate spatial variation of walkability level makes it a powerful tool to be applied in urban planning and management. Results of this study also have practical applications, which can be used as a reference for residents’ home selection and enable them to make informed decisions in selecting walkable neighborhoods with acceptable prices.

Neighborhood Walkability and Housing Prices: A Correlation Study

“…Many studies have shown that the housing price and level of walkability have a positive correlation [19,20,22]. Meanwhile, a study by Zhang et al showed that the housing price was negatively correlated with the level of walkability in the Futian district in Shenzhen, China [25]. Our task here was to analyze these aspects as they relate to Seoul, Korea.…”

“…Reyer et al tried to develop the walk score and investigate its association with active transportation in Stuttgart, Germany [24]. Zhang et al also calculated the walkability level and defined its relationship with residential estate value in Futian District, China [25]. In particular, Zhang and colleagues' study found a negative association between walkability and housing prices in 2018.…”

A Reliability Check of Walkability Indices in Seoul, Korea

“…Zhang et al (2019) used a grid point with an interval of 150 m to measure the walkability of the Futian district in China. This is because a 150 m interval was utilized in the original Walk Score calculation method [46]. This study used a spatial unit that was equal to or smaller than 400 m, taking into account the previously used walking distance.…”

Showcasing Relationships between Neighborhood Design and Wellbeing Toronto Indicators

“…Location and price are often considered to be the two most important factors when looking at real estate; the more walkable an area is the more attractive it is perceived to be. Therefore, neighborhoods with a greater perceived quantity of socioeconomic amenities have improved market values [117]; however, seldom is the quality of those socioeconomic amenities or factors of environmental well-being considered. Home prices and assaults were found negatively associated.…”