| Title |
How do Environmental Factors Influence the Walking Activities of Elderly People? |
| Authors |
정연준(Jeong, Yeon-Jun) ; 이경환(Lee, Kyung-Hwan) |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5659/JAIK.2022.38.9.123 |
| Keywords |
Aging-friendly City; New-town; Neighborhood-Environment; Street; Public space; GPS |
| Abstract |
As the world approaches a super-aged society, urban-level responses towards the elderly are being actively carried out in the forms of an
Age-Friendly City and a Healthy City. Through several preceding studies, the pedestrian-friendly neighborhood environment affected the health
of residents was revealed. This study aims to analyze factors that influence the walking activities of elderly people. The spatial scope was set
to Yatap-3-dong in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, and the subject was set to 25 elderly people living in that area. The elderly's gait activity data
was collected using GPS, and the factors influencing gait activity were derived through expert evaluations, interviews, and observational
surveys. The analysis results of 413 of the 600 trips or 68.8% of the elderly were derived from the GPS survey and the trip log survey
showed that the elderly had high walking dependence. The average walking distance of the elderly per week was 9,419.0 m, and the average
walking time was 248.1 minutes. The comparative analysis results of the space frequently used by the elderly and the control group from
expert evaluation revealed that the elderly often used streets and public spaces with high pedestrian safety, connectivity, and was sensually
comfortable. In the 28 routes or 6.78% of the walking trips taken by the elderly, not only were detours confirmed, but they walked an
additional 285.1 m. An accompanying survey and interview results showed that the elderly considered their safety from vehicles, crime, social
activity opportunities, slopes, stairs, and scenery when choosing walking routes. This study was significant in that it laid the foundation for
the design of an age-friendly neighborhood environment by empirically analyzing the characteristics of elderly walking activities and deriving
walking influence factors. |