| Title |
Measuring Walkability in Urban Residential Neighborhoods: Development of Walkability Indicators, Seoul, Korea |
| Authors |
Park So-Hyun ; Choi Yee-Myung ; Seo Han-Lim |
| Keywords |
Walking ; Walkable Neighborhood ; Walkability ; Urban Form Measurement ; GIS Analysis ; Korean Model ; Seoul |
| Abstract |
Walking is an easy, convenient, and no-cost physical activity as well as an environment-friendly transportation mode for every generation. It is widely known that walking positively contributes not only to prevent and even cure certain adult diseases but also to improve the environmental qualities of our cities. With these and other various reasons, planning and designing for more walkable neighborhoods have become one of the most urgent urban design goals these days, yet researches have not been conducted enough to articulate physical aspects of walking and walking conditions in residential areas. This paper seeks to objectively measure the environmental elements that have impacts on actual walking in residential neighborhoods. The goal is to suggest a relatively complete set of walkability indicators for residential neighborhoods of Korea. As for the research methods, a comprehensive literature review of existing studies, GIS analyses, and site observations on walking and neighborhood forms were applied. Based on the research findings, the paper proposes a classified walkability indicators of twenty environmental elements for Korean residential communities. The results of this paper would serve as meaningful references to planning and designing for more walkable residential neighborhoods, which would eventually help residents walk more and thus live healthier lives. |