Connectivity and physical activity: using footpath networks to measure the walkability of built environments
Connectivity and physical activity: using footpath networks to measure the walkability of built environments
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DOI：
10.1177/0265813515610672
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发表时间：
2016-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Kee, Frank
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ellis, Geraint;Hunter, Ruth;Kee, Frank
现在有大量的研究表明，建筑环境的形式可以影响身体活动的水平，导致人们越来越有兴趣将健康目标纳入空间规划和再生。这项研究有许多方面，其中之一是利用地理信息系统对建筑环境进行客观测量，包括测量连通性和邻近性，以比较不同街区的相对步行能力。步行指数的发展已经成为一个流行的指标，这些建筑环境特征的空间分布被认为对身体活动水平有最大的积极影响。这一措施的成功是建立在它能够利用常规可用的空间数据，包括利用道路中心线来衡量连通性，简洁地捕捉身体活动的相关性。在本文中，我们讨论了步行指数的两个关键方面。首先，正如其他人所建议的那样，使用人行道网络而不是道路中心线在评估步行适宜性方面可能更有效。这对于评估以城市为重点的基础设施项目（如绿道）引起的步行能力变化尤为重要。其次，我们探讨了如何测量连接性的影响。我们采取六种不同的措施的连接性，首先分析它们之间的关系，然后测试它们的相关性与实际水平的身体活动的当地居民在贝尔法斯特，北方爱尔兰。我们发现，最好的测量似乎是交叉口密度和度量达到，并使用这一发现来讨论开发工具，可以更好地支持决策的空间规划的影响。
There is now a strong body of research that suggests that the form of the built environment can influence levels of physical activity, leading to an increasing interest in incorporating health objectives into spatial planning and regeneration. There have been a number of strands to this research, one of which has sought to develop objective measurements of the built environment using geographic information systems involving measures of connectivity and proximity to compare the relative walkability'of different neighbourhoods. The development of the walkability index' has become a popular indicator of the spatial distribution of those built environment features that are considered to have the greatest positive influence on levels of physical activity. The success of this measure is built on its ability to capture succinctly correlates of physical activity using routinely available spatial data, which includes using road centre lines to measure connectivity. In this paper we discuss two key aspects of the walkability index. First, as suggested by others, that the use of a footpath network, rather than road centre lines, may be far more effective in evaluating walkability. This may be particularly important for assessing changes in walkability arising from pedestrian-focused infrastructure projects, such as greenways. Second, we explore the implications of this for how connectivity can be measured. We take six different measures of connectivity and first analyse the relationships between them and then test their correlation with actual levels of physical activity of local residents in Belfast, Northern Ireland. We find that the best measurements appear to be intersection density and metric reach and use this finding to discuss the implications for developing tools that may better support decision-making in spatial planning.