Zhao, Guanhua;
Cao, Mengqiu;
De Vos, Jonas;
(2024)
Exploring walking behaviour and perceived walkability of older adults in London.
Journal of Transport & Health
, 37
, Article 101832. 10.1016/j.jth.2024.101832.
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Abstract
Introduction: There is an emerging imperative to design walkable communities catering to older adults, particularly given the context of an increasingly aging population. However, studies of how older citizens perceive walkability remain scarce. Therefore, this study aims to identify the factors that influence walking behaviours and perceived walkability among senior citizens, whilst also illuminating the associations between them. Methods: A quantitative analysis was conducted on 200 older individuals living in Ealing, London, an area with a large proportion of senior citizens. Utilising the self-developed Neighbourhood Environment Walkability Scale for Older Adults (NEWS-OA), based on the abbreviated version of NEWS, both linear and logistic regression models were employed to decode the data. Results: Our results show that NEWS-OA is appropriate for assessing perceived walkability among senior citizens and reveal concerns regarding traffic safety. Communities with high walkability are likely to encourage an extended distance, duration, and frequency of walks. However, socioeconomic status (SES) was found to have a less pronounced effect on walking frequency and distance. The study further demonstrates that perceptions of safety were lower among older adults with a high SES. We found that positive perceptions of all the variables tested, except Aesthetics, encouraged walking. Furthermore, the study reveals the crucial influence of these perceptions on older adults’ inclination to walk for various purposes, such as the role of perceived safety in terms of social interaction. Conclusions: This study offers insights that can be used to make London a more age-friendly and walkable city. It can also serve as a reference for other cities to enhance inclusiveness.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Exploring walking behaviour and perceived walkability of older adults in London |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jth.2024.101832 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2024.101832 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Technology, Public, Environmental & Occupational Health, Transportation, Older adults, Perceived walkability, Neighbourhood walkability, Travel behaviour, Built environment, NEIGHBORHOOD-BASED DIFFERENCES, PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY, BUILT ENVIRONMENT, MOBILITY, TRAVEL, SCALE, ACCESSIBILITY, POPULATION, ATTRIBUTES, SENIORS |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Bartlett School Env, Energy and Resources UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett School of Planning |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10195291 |
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