Search Results (301)

As the texture skeleton of the traditional village, the street space is the main area for tourists to visit in traditional villages; it is regarded as the spatial conversion place of human flow and the space frequently visited by tourists. Accumulating evidence shows that the visual quality of street spaces has an effect on pedestrians’ walking behaviors in urban areas, but this effect in traditional villages needs to be further explored. This paper takes Huangcun Village, Yixian County, Huangshan City, as the research area to explore the influence of the objective visual factors of street spaces on tourists’ subjective stay willingness. First, an evaluation system of the visual quality of street spaces was developed. With the assistance of computer vision and deep learning technologies, semantic segmentation of Huangcun Village street view images was performed to obtain a visual quality index and then calculate the descriptive index of Huangcun Village’s street space. Then, combining the data of tourists’ stay willingness with the visual quality of the street space, the overall evaluation results and space distribution of tourists’ stay willingness in Huangcun Village were predicted using the Trueskill algorithm and machine learning prediction model. Finally, the influence of the objective visual quality of the street space on tourist subjective stay willingness was analyzed by correlation analysis. This research could provide some useful information for street space design and tourism planning in traditional villages. Full article

Historical legacies of enslavement and apartheid structural violence underpin the societal fabric of Cape Town. Walking through the city of Cape Town, colonial reminders and bastions of white supremacy remain evident in statues, street names and the continued spatial apartheid present in the public space. Sites of intergenerational trauma remain scattered through the city, retraced and reclaimed through the efforts of community members, activists, artists and museums. This paper focuses on how race and memory are represented, resisted and challenged within popular culture in Cape Town, South Africa. Through considering museums and music as sites of public memory, this paper highlights how collective memory is being constructed in post-apartheid South Africa in ways that challenge white supremacist and colonial memory. Focusing on two case studies, the Iziko Slave Lodge and Youngsta CPT’s song YVR, this paper shows how colonial and apartheid conceptualisations of race are constantly being contested in post-apartheid popular culture to resist colonial memory and recreate new public memories. Full article

Compared to commuting, grocery shopping trips, despite their profound implications for mixed land use and transportation planning, have received limited attention in travel behavior research. Drawing upon a travel diary survey conducted in a fast-growing metropolitan region of the United States, i.e., Salt Lake County, UT, this research investigated a variety of influential factors affecting mode choices associated with grocery shopping. We analyze how built environment (BE) characteristics, measured at seven spatial scales or different ways of aggregating spatial data—including straight-line buffers, network buffers, and census units—affect travel mode decisions. Key predictors of choosing walking, biking, or transit over driving include age, household size, vehicle ownership, income, land use mix, street density, and distance to the central business district (CBD). Notably, the influence of BE factors on mode choice is sensitive to different spatial aggregation methods and locations of origins and destinations. The straight-line buffer was a good indicator for the influence of store sales amount on mode choices; the network buffer was more suitable for the household built environment factors, whereas the measurement at the census block and block group levels was more effective for store-area characteristics. These findings underscore the importance of considering both the spatial analysis method and the location (home vs. store) when modeling non-work travel. A multi-scalar approach can enhance the accuracy of travel demand models and inform more effective land use and transportation planning strategies. Full article

Urban outdoor thermal comfort (OTC) has become an increasingly critical issue under the pressures of urbanization and climate change. Comparative analyses of urban blocks with distinct spatial morphologies are essential for identifying OTC issues and proposing targeted optimization strategies. However, existing studies predominantly rely on microclimate numerical simulations, while comparative assessments of OTC from the human thermal perception perspective remain limited. This study employs the thermal walk method, integrating microclimatic measurements with thermal perception questionnaires, to conduct on-site OTC investigations across three urban blocks with contrasting spatial morphologies—a business district (BD), a residential area (RA), and a historical neighborhood (HN)—in Beijing, a hot summer and cold winter climate city. The results reveal substantial OTC differences among the blocks. However, these differences demonstrated great seasonal and temporal variations. In summer, BD exhibited the best OTC (mTSV = 1.21), while HN performed the worst (mTSV = 1.72). In contrast, BD showed the poorest OTC in winter (mTSV = −1.57), significantly lower than HN (−1.11) and RA (−1.05). This discrepancy was caused by the unique morphology of different blocks. The sky view factor emerged as a more influential factor affecting OTC over building coverage ratio and building height, particularly in RA (r = 0.689, p < 0.01), but its impact varied by block, season, and sunlight conditions. North–South streets generally perform better OTC than East–West streets, being 0.26 units cooler in summer and 0.20 units warmer in winter on the TSV scale. The study highlights the importance of incorporating more applicable physical parameters to optimize OTC in complex urban contexts and offering theoretical support for designing climate adaptive urban spaces. Full article

Climate change today is considered one of the most severe global problems. Additionally, it is inherently linked to sustainable development, particularly considering that it is a widespread problem affecting virtually all regions, countries, and continents. Therefore, it is essential to monitor its perception and behaviours towards it. Hence, there is the need for a diagnosis of climate-change attitudes found in various parts of the world. This premise is the foundation for the original study reported in the article. It offers the results of a survey of 300 adult rural residents from southeastern Poland. The article aims to diagnose the respondents’ attitudes towards climate change in the context of sustainable development premises. Respondents’ opinions on the potential activities their local communities could take to be more sustainable are a substantial part of the results. The most common suggestions were low-emission public transport (in the Wadowice District, it was 55% of responses) and road and street redesign to promote safe cycling and walking environments (in the Kraków and Tarnów Districts, over 50% of responses). The respondents found the promotion of sustainable development among youth and older people to be the least important (in three out of five districts, this percentage did not exceed 20%). The other thematic block was specific environmental protection and sustainable development activities that society should prioritise over a five-year horizon. The participants considered the development of new ways to eliminate waste in total production (in the Tarnów District, over 73% of responses), new technologies to curb the carbon footprint and GHG emissions (over 63% in the Wadowice District), and new technologies to scrape and monitor air pollutants (approx. 70% in the Kraków District). Full article

The prevalence of car dependence and sedentary lifestyles has created concern in the transportation and health sectors. Walking is the most popular and practical kind of exercise that can significantly enhance health. In Chile, more than half of older adults have health issues and almost 72% of the elderly population never engages in physical activity. This study aims to investigate the relationship between older adults’ walking behavior and the built environment along the streets and parks in Santiago’s middle-income neighborhoods. Six medium-income central and pericentral neighborhoods of Santiago were selected. The average number of older persons who walk along the paths and two modified audit forms were used to measure walking behavior and built environment features, respectively. Both correlation analysis and backward regression were used to examine the associations. While elements like the existence of bus stops, pedestrian streets, and general cleanliness contribute to the enhanced number of older adults who walk along street segments, the presence of insecurity signs was found to be negatively associated with the number of older adults who walk in the neighborhood parks. Furthermore, complexity and mystery showed a negative association with the number of older adults in the neighborhood parks. Urban policymakers might use these findings to encourage older adults to walk more in Santiago’s medium-income neighborhoods. Full article

Urban green spaces (UGSs) play a pivotal role in sustaining the livelihoods of urban dwellers. This study sought to explore the impact of UGSs on livelihoods in Bulawayo and Johannesburg cities. A mixed-methods approach was used to develop a nuanced understanding of the nexus between UGSs and the livelihoods of the residents. A questionnaire survey (n = 658) with 329 participants from each city and 20 interviews were used to gather and generate data. Twelve types of UGSs were identified, with a relatively large proportion of the participants recognizing informal recreational areas as the common type of urban green space (UGS) in both cities. Domestic gardens, cemeteries, parks, woodlands, institutional green spaces, street trees, wastelands, commonages, and green roofs were other green spaces in both cities. Economically, job opportunities emerged in areas such as selling wares, photography, and the collection of firewood and wild fruits for sale. Likewise, farming activities and property values increased. Socially, they were valuable recreation and leisure spots for picnicking, dog walking, dating escapades, mental and spiritual wellness as well as education. Environmentally, UGSs were special in terms of medicinal provisions and aesthetics. However, urbanization and encroachment are undermining the extent of livelihood benefits. Therefore, it is imperative to revitalize UGSs by instituting robust partnerships and collaboration between government agencies, mobilize resources and expertise, value addition to existing UGSs, rigorous education to promote better appreciation, inclusion of the locals in the design process so that green spaces meet their needs and priorities, and establishing effective maintenance and management systems that ensure sustainability of UGSs. Full article

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of built environment and intrapersonal factors with leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), and the possible moderating effect of intrapersonal factors on the association between the built environment and LTPA. Methods: A total of 514 older people in the village of Fuwen were included in this study. Data on LTPA, intrapersonal factors (social, fitness, medical, benefits/challenges, recognition), and the built environment (traffic safety, street connectivity, walking facilities, access to services, crime safety, aesthetics, residential density, land use mix diversity) were collected. Multivariate linear regression analysis with the “enter” method was conducted to analyze the association of perceived scores of built environment and intrapersonal factors with LTPA. Results: Among the intrapersonal factors, fitness was positively related to LTPA (p = 0.012). Among the built environment factors, traffic safety (p = 0.02) and crime safety (p = 0.047) were positively related to LTPA, while walking facilities was negatively associated with LTPA (p = 0.007). Additionally, fitness had a significant moderating effect on the association between walking facilities and LTPA (p = 0.025). Conclusions: Older people with higher fitness requirements and better perceived traffic safety and crime safety tend to engage in greater levels of LTPA. The findings provide valuable insights for policymakers, particularly in designing ecologically livable villages that promote physical activity among older populations. Full article

Improving the pedestrian environment around metro stations and enhancing walkability are important for the daily travel and life quality of passengers. By reviewing existing studies, we summarized nine walkability elements and eventually refined them into 18 quantifiable research indicators. Walkability elements such as street enclosure, number of lanes, and tree canopy coverage were quantified through field surveys and passenger perception data. A stepwise regression analysis identified key influencing factors for nine walkability dimensions. Based on the correlation coefficients, factor assignments, and constants, a composite walkability index formula was established to evaluate pedestrian routes near four Shanghai metro stations. The results show that the proportion of sidewalks covered by a tree canopy, the number of lanes, street enclosures, and the transparency of the ground-floor building facade are the most important factors affecting the walkability of the pedestrian environment. In this study, we calculated the scores of each road section, compared the walking facilities and walking distance of different stations, and finally proposed relevant strategies for improving the walking environment. Full article

In the 21st century, there has been a concerted effort to undo the automobile-centric urban planning of the 20th century, which has resulted in degraded public spaces that deter citizen permanence. However, the perpetuation of quantitative-based methodologies, along with low public participation, has led to underused public spaces. To create more appealing spaces, the methods need to feature more public involvement. This article addresses this gap by implementing the Participatory Mobile Biosensing methodology. Participants were asked to walk along two high streets in Lisbon using biosensors and, in a later workshop, to interpret their biodata and co-create scenarios to improve their walking experience. The participants were able to identify the intangible and physical factors that affected their walk, as well as devise scenarios to address them. When the participants formulated their scenarios, they were also able to demonstrate several ideals that influenced their vision for the streets. The subsequent discussion focused on the relevance of this methodology to high streets and how participatory methods could further the study of walkability by incorporating subjective experiences in the creation of public spaces. Full article

High-density cities have obvious characteristics of compact urban spatial form and intensive land use in terms of spatial environment, and have always been a topic of academic focus. As a typical coastal historical district, the Macau Peninsula pier district (mainly the Macau Inner Harbour) has a high building density and a low average street width, forming a vertical coastline development model that directly converses with the ocean. This area is adjacent to Macau’s World Heritage Site and directly related to the Marine trade functions. The distribution pattern of cultural heritage linked by the ocean has strengthened Macau’s unique positioning as a node city on the Maritime Silk Road. This text is based on the theory of urban development, integrates spatial syntax and POI analysis techniques, and combines the theories of waterfront regeneration, high-density urban form and post-industrial urbanism to integrate and deepen the theoretical framework, and conduct a systematic study on the urban spatial characteristics of the coastal area of the Macau Peninsula. This study found that (1) Catering and shopping facilities present a dual agglomeration mechanism of “tourism-driven + commercial core”, with Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro as the main axis and radiating to the Ruins of St. Paul’s and Praça de Ponte e Horta, respectively. Historical blocks and tourist hotspots clearly guide the spatial center of gravity. (2) Residential and life service facilities are highly coupled, reflecting the spatial logic of “work-residence integration-service coordination”. The distribution of life service facilities basically overlaps with the high-density residential area, forming an obvious “living circle + community unit” structure with clear spatial boundaries. (3) Commercial and transportation facilities form a “functional axis belt” organizational structure along the main road, with the Rua das Lorchas—Rua do Almirante Sérgio axis as the skeleton, constructing a “functional transmission chain”. (4) The spatial system of the Macau Peninsula pier district has transformed from a single center to a multi-node, network-linked structure. Its internal spatial differentiation is not only constrained by traditional land use functions but is also driven by complex factors such as tourism economy, residential migration, historical protection, and infrastructure accessibility. (5) Through the analysis of space syntax, it is found that the core integration of the Macau Peninsula pier district is concentrated near Pier 16 and the northern area. The two main roads have good accessibility for motor vehicle travel, and the northern area of the Macau Peninsula pier district has good accessibility for long and short-distance walking. Full article

The aging population has posed significant challenges to the built environment (BE) in urban residential areas, particularly in addressing older adults’ activity and health needs. Understanding how the BE influences older adults’ activity and health is crucial for promoting active and healthy aging. This study explored the interactions among the BE, self-efficacy (SE), activity engagement (AE), and self-rated health (SH) for older adults in urban residential areas. A random sampling technique selected 372 older adults residing in urban residential areas to participate in the questionnaire survey. Spearman correlation and hierarchical regression analysis were used to develop the BE-SE-AE-SH model for older people based on social cognitive theory. Accessibility, land use mix, and street connectivity affect activity engagement by influencing older persons’ walking and self-care abilities. Land use mix discourages walking ability and activity engagement, while esthetics encourages activity engagement. Land use mix, street connectivity, transportation, walking ability, self-care ability, and activity engagement enhance older adults’ self-rated health. Practical recommendations for age-friendly urban residential areas include the following: (1) optimize elevators and footpaths; (2) decentralize small businesses and create multi-use parking; (3) shorten crossings and enhance pavements; (4) add natural and humanistic elements; (5) limit car speed and install traffic signals. Full article

With the intensification of aging, the imbalance between the supply and demand of elderly care services has become increasingly prominent. Taking Changsha as a case study, this research constructs an accessibility evaluation system based on the 15-min life circle theory, utilizing multi-source data. Spatial weighting characteristics of elderly care facility locations were analyzed through machine learning algorithms, and service coverage disparities between urban districts and suburban towns were assessed under 5-, 10-, and 15-min walking thresholds. Street view semantic segmentation technology was employed to extract street environmental elements in central urban areas, and a multiple regression model was established to elucidate the impact mechanisms of the built environment on walking accessibility. Key findings include: (1) Significant urban-rural service disparities exist, with 91.4% of urban core facilities offering seven service categories within 15-min walking catchments compared to 26.86% in township areas, demonstrating suburban infrastructure’s heavy reliance on administrative resource allocation. (2) Street environmental factors exhibit significant correlations with walking accessibility scores. At the 15-min walking threshold, building space ratio and transportation infrastructure coverage positively influenced walking convenience, while sky view ratio showed a negative correlation. (3) A random forest-based location prediction framework identified multiple service gaps in existing facilities. Suburban service deficiencies (e.g., 59.8% medical facility coverage within walkable catchments) emerge as critical equity barriers, prompting recommendations for integrated “micro-clinic + smart pharmacy” networks and prioritized mixed-use zoning in new urban planning. This research advances a data-driven framework for reconciling urbanization-aging conflicts, offering practical insights for developing nations in creating age-friendly urban environments. Full article

Walking is recognised as a healthy and sustainable mode of transport. Providing adequate infrastructure is pivotal for the promotion of walking and, subsequently, for achieving the benefits derived from its numerous positive effects. However, efficiently measuring the walkability at the street level remains challenging. In this paper, we present an indicator-based assessment model that can be used with open spatial data to evaluate segment-based walkability. The model incorporates eleven indicators describing the street segments and their close surroundings that are relevant for pedestrians, such as the presence and type of pedestrian infrastructure, road category, noise levels, and exposure to green and blue space. A weighted average calculation results in walkability index values for each street segment within a road network graph. The model’s generic approach and the ability to be used with open data ensure its reproducibility, adaptability, and scalability. The feasibility of the walkability model was shown using a case study for Salzburg, Austria. The model’s validity was evaluated through a large-scale study involving 660 full responses to an online survey. Participants provided ratings on the walkability of randomly selected street segments in Salzburg, which were compared with the calculated index, revealing a strong correlation (Spearman’s rank correlation = 0.82). Full article

Recent European policies fostering sustainable mobility target urban proximity as a core strategy for a modal shift towards low-carbon modes. Urban proximity, as a characteristic of the built environment, can be studied as a sub-thread of a broad and complex body of literature which associates urban factors such as density or land use mix with observed travel behavior, so as to address their relative influence on the latter. Building on this previous knowledge, the present work addresses the importance of a diverse set of factors on local travel modal choice between walking and other modes, according to the 2018 Household Mobility Survey of the Metropolitan Region of Madrid, and a large variety of demographic and built environment characteristics. The work proposes to address this importance through a workflow on a set of Machine Learning models, filtering different distance thresholds and purposes of the trips, going through a strict feature selection process, and executing under different schema definitions. The resulting models are inspected for accuracy, feature importance, and composition. Results suggest that even small changes in distance thresholds exert a great impact on all models; sociodemographic variables are slightly more important in most models, yet building age, along with other street layout factors, pervasively obtain fairly accurate predictions too. Full article