Pedestrians' perceptions of route environments in relation to deterring or facilitating walking

• BackgroundEvery walk takes place in a route environment, and it can play an important role in deterring or facilitating walking, and will always affect the environmental unwell – wellbeing of pedestrians. The aim of this study is to illuminate which the important route environmental variables are in this respect. The focus is therefore on pedestrians´ perceptions of route environmental variables and how they relate to overall appraisals of route environments as hindering – stimulating for walking and unsafe – safe for reasons of traffic.  MethodsCommuting pedestrians in the inner urban area of Stockholm, Sweden (n = 294, 49.5 ± 10.4 years, 77% women), were recruited via advertisements. They evaluated their own commuting route environments using a self-report tool, the Active Commuting Route Environment Scale (ACRES). Correlation, multiple regression, and mediation analyses were used to study the relationships between the variables and the outcome variables. ResultsAesthetics and greenery appear to strongly stimulate walking, whereas noise, a proxy for motorized traffic, hinders it. Furthermore, aesthetics is positively related to traffic safety, whereas conflicts have the opposite role. Conflicts is an intermediate outcome, representing several basic environmental variables, whereof some were directly and negatively related to unsafe – safe traffic. Conclusion Route environmental variables appear to be potent factors in deterring or facilitating walking. This knowledge is of importance for policymakers and urban planners when designing route environments with the aim of attracting new pedestrians, and simultaneously stimulating those who already walk to keep on. 

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Samhällsbyggnadsteknik -- Transportteknik och logistik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Civil Engineering -- Transport Systems and Logistics (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

walking

route environment

perceptions

aesthetics

greenery

noise

conflicts

speed

environmental unwellbeing - wellbeing

Samhällsvetenskap/Humaniora

Social Sciences/Humanities

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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