ATTRIBUTES OF FORM IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT THAT INFLUENCE PERCEIVED WALKABILITY.

A recent focus of design and building regulations, including form-based codes and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development rating system, has been on promoting pedestrian activity. This study assessed perceptions of walkability for residential and commercial streetscapes with different design attributes in order to inform form-based regulations and codes that aim to impact walkability. We scored 424 images on four design attributes purported to influence walkability: variation in building height, variation in building plane, presence of ground-floor windows, and presence of a street focal point. We then presented the images to 45 adults, who were asked to rate the images for walkability. The results showed that perceived walkability varied according to the degree to which a particular design attribute was present, with the presence of ground-floor windows and a street focal point most consistently associated with a space's perceived walkability. Understanding if and which design attributes are most related to walkability could allow planners and developers to focus on the most salient built-environment features influencing physical activity, as well as provide empirical scientific evidence for form-based regulations and zoning codes aimed at impacting walkabilit.

[1]  Trevor Shilton,et al.  Development of a reliable measure of walking within and outside the local neighborhood: RESIDE's Neighborhood Physical Activity Questionnaire. , 2006, Preventive medicine.

[2]  E. Adelson,et al.  Image statistics for surface reflectance perception. , 2008, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.

[3]  J. Nasar.  Visual Preferences in Urban Street Scenes , 1984 .

[4]  Tom Baranowski,et al.  Observed, GIS, and Self-Reported Environmental Features and Adolescent Physical Activity , 2006, American journal of health promotion : AJHP.

[5]  B. Saelens,et al.  Built environment correlates of walking: a review. , 2008, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[6]  G A Colditz,et al.  Television viewing as a cause of increasing obesity among children in the United States, 1986-1990. , 1996, Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine.

[7]  A. Stamps.  Simulation Effects on Environmental Preference , 1993 .

[8]  W. Whyte.  City: Rediscovering the Center , 1988 .

[9]  L. Mâsse,et al.  Physical activity in the United States measured by accelerometer. , 2008, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[10]  Ann Forsyth,et al.  The Street Level Built Environment and Physical Activity and Walking , 2011 .

[11]  Bill Hillier,et al.  Space is the machine: A configurational theory of architecture , 1996 .

[12]  R. Ewing,et al.  The built environment and obesity. , 2007, Epidemiologic reviews.

[13]  T. Lobstein,et al.  Worldwide trends in childhood overweight and obesity. , 2006, International journal of pediatric obesity : IJPO : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

[14]  Jack L Nasar,et al.  Assessing perceptions of environments for active living. , 2008, American journal of preventive medicine.

[15]  Bob Martens,et al.  Environment and Behavior Research in Austria , 2004 .

[16]  Henk M. E. Miedema,et al.  Relationships between street characteristics and perceived attractiveness for walking reported by elderly people , 2008 .

[17]  D. Campbell,et al.  Unobtrusive Measures: Nonreactive Research in the Social Sciences , 1966 .

[18]  Richard S. Lazarus,et al.  On the Primacy of Cognition. , 1984 .

[19]  Jack L. Nasar,et al.  Out of Sight Further from Mind , 1985 .

[20]  J. Nasar,et al.  The emotional quality of scenes and observation points: A look at prospect and refuge , 1983 .

[21]  J. Nasar.  Urban Design Aesthetics , 1994 .

[22]  Su-Jau Yang,et al.  Beverage Intake Among Preschool Children and Its Effect on Weight Status , 2006, Pediatrics.

[23]  Christine M. Hoehner,et al.  Measuring the built environment for physical activity: state of the science. , 2009, American journal of preventive medicine.

[24]  Max Jacobson,et al.  A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction , 1981 .

[25]  R. Jackson,et al.  Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning, and Building for Healthy Communities , 2004 .

[26]  Amos Rapoport,et al.  Human Aspects of Urban Form: Towards a Man Environment Approach to Urban Form and Design , 1977 .

[27]  Kevin Lynch,et al.  The Image of the City , 1960 .

[28]  T. R. Herzog,et al.  A cognitive analysis of preference for urban spaces , 1992 .

[29]  R. Houts,et al.  Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity from ages 9 to 15 years. , 2008, JAMA.

[30]  J. Sallis,et al.  The Role of Built Environments in Physical Activity, Eating, and Obesity in Childhood , 2006, The Future of children.

[31]  K. Flegal,et al.  Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States, 1999-2004. , 2006, JAMA.

[32]  Jack L. Nasar,et al.  Environmental correlates of evaluative appraisals of central business district scenes , 1987 .

[33]  A. Devlin.  Mind and Maze: Spatial Cognition and Environmental Behavior , 2001 .

[34]  J. V. Kasmar,et al.  The Development of a Usable Lexicon of Environmental Descriptors , 1970 .

[35]  J. Jacobs.  The Death and Life of Great American Cities , 1962 .

[36]  R. Kaplan,et al.  The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective , 1989 .

[37]  J. Sallis,et al.  Linking objectively measured physical activity with objectively measured urban form: findings from SMARTRAQ. , 2005, American journal of preventive medicine.

[38]  J. G. Adair,et al.  The Human Subject: The Social Psychology of the Psychological Experiment , 1973 .