Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, No.

46 (2019): 7–21
http://doi.org/10.2478/bog-2019-0031

BULLETIN OF GEOGRAPHY. SOCIO–ECONOMIC SERIES

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Local walkability index: assessing built environment influence on

walking

Marzieh Reisi1, CDFMR, Mozhgan Ahmadi Nadoushan2, CDFMR, Lu Aye3, CDFMR

University of Kurdistan, Department of Natural Resources, Iran, 1email: [email protected], http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1700-4975

(corresponding author), 2email: [email protected], http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9269-1317, 3email: [email protected],
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5495-1683

How to cite:
Reisi, M. Nadoushan, M.A. and Aye L. (2019). Local walkability index: assessing built environment influence on walking. Bulle-
tin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, 46(46): 7-21. DOI: http://doi.org/10.2478/bog-2019-0031

Abstract. Walking is a more sustainable transport mode, and governments around Article details:
the world are trying to deliver highly walkable areas to their people. Due to its Received: 17 February 2019
importance, walkability has been a research topic in recent years. Vast empirical Revised: 15 July 2019
Accepted: 31 July 2019
studies have reported evidence related to the influence of built environment on
walking as a major physical activity. Considering the recent literature, this study
developed a framework to quantify walkability by applying a set of indicators re-
lated to built environment. The indicators were normalised, weighted and integrat-
ed into an overall walkability index. The research was conducted on Chaharbagh
Street, which is a major and ancient street in the Isfahan metropolitan area, Iran.
Key words:
The proposed framework would be helpful in investigations of whether a specif- Environment,
ic area is an appropriate option for a car-free plan based on its built environment Sustainability,
features. The outcome of the study could be applied to understand issues related Town & city planning,
to pedestrian infrastructure and to propose corrective actions. Transport planning

Contents:
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2. Material and methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1. Study area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2. Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3. Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4. Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
5. Discussion and Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

© 2019 (Reisi, M. Nadoushan, M.A. and Aye L.) This is an open access article licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommer-
cial-NoDerivs License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
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8 Marzieh Reisi, Mozhgan Ahmadi Nadoushan and Lu Aye / Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series / 46 (2019): 7–21

1. Introduction Pivo, 1994; Bauman et al., 1996; Wright et al.,

1996; Sallis et al., 1998; Owen et al., 2004). In var-
ious studies investigating walking behaviour, acces-
Walking, due to its minimal costs, is a more sus- sibility, connectivity, convenience, safety, aesthetic
tainable transport mode (Gallin, 2001). Despite the features and attractiveness were the main suggest-
importance of walking, the current level of walking ed factors affecting walking activities (Hawthorne,
in communities is not adequate to provide health 1989; Bauman et al., 1996; Wright et al., 1996; Gala-
benefits, and people need more walking activities nis, 2011; Humpel et al., 2002; Pikora et al., 2003;
to achieve public health objectives (Giles-Corti, Do- Giles-Corti et al., 2003; Galanis, Eliou, 2011; Tal,
novan, 2003). Walking is one of the most popular Handy, 2012; Motamed, Bitaraf, 2016). Ball et al.
forms of physical activity among adults (Bahrainy (2001) and Powell et al. (2003) found a strong rela-
et al., 2015). Urban planners are interested in walk- tionship between convenience and level of walking.
ing as a means of reducing vehicle miles travelled Saelens et al. (2003) believed that choice of trans-
and greenhouse gas emissions (Tribby et al., 2016). port for leisure, exercise or recreation depends on
Insufficient physical activity is a major risk, causing land use, distance, connectivity and pedestrian in-
excess weight and obesity, diabetes and heart dis- frastructure. In the Asian context, land use diversi-
eases (US Department of Health and Human Ser- ty, footpath availability and quality, safety, facilities
vices, 1996). for disabled, and pedestrian amenities all influence
In recent years, urban design and public health walking trips (Efroymson, 2012). Galanis et al.
have been closely related to walkable localities (Ew- (2011) measured 30 indicators, including pedestrian
ing, Handy, 2009), as the ease of walking in a neigh- infrastructure, road segment, corner and crosswalk
bourhood affects the liveability of urban areas and indicators in six selected roads in Greece through
the physical activity of citizens (Burden et al., 2002). street audits and claimed that the measured indica-
Walkability is an important concept in the context tors could be applied to evaluate walkability features
of transportation engineering, urban planning and of the pedestrian infrastructure across urban streets.
health disciplines (Bhadra et al., 2016). Improving Although many attempts have been made to
walkability and promoting walking in urban are- identify built environment indicators affecting
as leads to wealth, health and urban sustainabili- walking, only a limited number of studies aggre-
ty (Gallin, 2001; Zayed, 2016). Consequently, policy gate various indicators to create a single walkability
interventions have been undertaken in urban de- index (WI) (USDG, 2007; Walkscore, 2019; CAI-
sign worldwide to promote physical activities and Asia, 2011). Aggregating individual indicators into
walking (Rebecchi et al., 2019; Sallis et al., 1998). an index is a practical approach helping to meas-
There are numerous definitions of walkability in the ure various dimensions of built environment that
current literature. Walkability can be defined as the cannot be captured completely by individual indica-
suitability of the urban road environment for pe- tors alone (Zhou et al., 2007; Saisana, 2011). Frank
destrians. Walkability is also defined as supports et al. (2010) developed a walkability index for Met-
provided by the built environment to encourage ro Vancouver comprising residential, commercial
walking, including pedestrian comfort and safety, density, land use mix and street connectivity indi-
connecting people with various destinations within cators. However, a large number of effective indi-
a reasonable amount of time and effort, and offering cators specifically related to safety are disregarded
visual interest on journeys throughout the network in the study. Krambeck et al. (2006) developed a
(Southworth, 2005; Galanis, Eliou, 2011). global WI in specific parts of the world consider-
According to the public health literature, it is ing 45 indicators related to safety, convenience, at-
argued that physical environment could influence tractiveness and policy support. The indicators were
physical activity behaviours (Leslie et al., 2007). integrated into a single index, but there are some
Thus, considerable efforts have been made to find a limitations related to integration. First, the indica-
correlation between the physical environment of an tors were not measured directly (i.e. to quantify the
area and the physical activities of people, with par- indicators, pedestrians were asked to scale each in-
ticular focus on walking (Hawthorne, 1989; Frank, dicator using a scale from 1 to 5), which involves

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 Marzieh Reisi, Mozhgan Ahmadi Nadoushan and Lu Aye / Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series / 46 (2019): 7–21 9

subjective quantification of the indicators. Secondly, 2. Material and methods

despite the differing importances of the indicators,
they received the same weighting during aggrega-
tion, which skews the overall index. 2.1. Study area
Gallin (2001) also defined 11 indicators affect-
ing level of services (LOS) for pedestrians, including Isfahan city, with an area of 267.6 km2, is located at
physical characteristics, location and user indica- 32º39ʹ8.86ʺ Northern latitude and 51º40ʹ28.63ʺ East-
tors. To quantify the indicators, a score of 0 to 4 ern longitude. With a population of 1,602,110, it is
was given to the selected path based on its char- the third most populous city in Iran. Isfahan cit-
acteristics. The score for each indicator was then izens experience a desert climate with an average
multiplied by the relative weight assigned to each annual temperature of 16.7ºC and 125 mm annu-
indicator based on stakeholders’ opinions, on a scale al rainfall. According to census data, inter-city traf-
of 1 to 5. The individual weighted score for each fic accidents caused 399 deaths and 15,343 injuries
indicator was summed to obtain a total weight- in 2017, putting Isfahan in third place in Iran in
ed score for the path segment. As in the previous terms of traffic accident frequency (National Cen-
study, indicator quantification was subjective in this sus, 2017).
research and cannot provide the true condition of Chaharbagh Abbasi Street (Chaharbagh, for
the study area. Moreover, the sensitivity of priori- short) is one of the main historical, cultural, com-
ties was not analysed. mercial and entertainment centres in the Isfahan
Despite promising results, there are some chal- metropolitan area, Iran. This historical street hosts
lenges associated with previous studies. Many of a large number of offices, business centres and ho-
the studies focused on self-reported perceptions of tels and is regarded as Isfahan’s central district. The
built environment factors rather than direct meas- neighbourhood suburbs of Chaharbagh are home
urements (Humpel et al., 2002; Pikora et al., 2003). to 22,900 persons making 22,130 daily trips in the
Moreover, the relative importance of built environ- surrounding areas (Saghayi & Sadeghi, 2013). More-
ment factors on walking behaviour has not been over, connecting people to the neighbourhood hos-
determined (Pikora et al., 2003). For example, San pital and medical centres, historical buildings and
Francisco Department of Public Health (2009) de- Zayanderoud bayside, a large number of cars are at-
veloped the Pedestrian Environmental Quality In- tracted to the street. Table 1 summarises some ba-
dex (PEQI) to assess pedestrian safety considering sic characteristics of Chaharbagh Street.
a range of built environmental features including Chaharbagh is a part of Isfahan’s identity, and
number of lanes, sidewalk width, sidewalk sur- attracts pedestrians for walking, due to its par-
face, trees, and public seating. Although using an- ticular spatial features. “Car-free Tuesday” is a lo-
alyst-collected data provides a real understanding cal arrangement currently operating in Chaharbagh
of street features, the indicators are not differentiat- Street to motivate walking habits among Isfahan cit-
ed based on importance. Therefore, there is a clear izens. It aims to reduce traffic, fuel consumption,
need to refine measures applied for assessing the noise and air pollutants through specific urban de-
potential of a built environment for walking. sign and planning for promoting active transport.
Considering the limitation of developing WI us- Therefore, better urban design to improve walkabil-
ing actual measurement of built environment fea- ity along the street is urgently needed.
tures, and to help in achieving public health goals By quantifying built environment features and
related to physical activity, this research aims to de- identifying WI, this research investigation tries to
velop a WI for a street in Isfahan, Iran. To achieve evaluate the street’s suitability for the “car-free” plan.
this aim, the built environment features were meas- The results of the investigation would help the local
ured directly in the study area, weighted by a rec- government to improve the walking experience in
ognised weighting method, and aggregated into a Chaharbagh Street. Moreover, it also would be ben-
single index. eficial for successful expansion of the plan to other
parts of the metropolitan area, and would conse-

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10 Marzieh Reisi, Mozhgan Ahmadi Nadoushan and Lu Aye / Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series / 46 (2019): 7–21

Table 1. Chaharbagh characteristics

Length 1.16 km
Number of car lanes 2
Number of sidewalks 3 (Two frontage sidewalks and one along the middle of street)
Min:1 m for frontages
Sidewalk width
Max: 1.5 m for middle sidewalk
Bicycle lanes 2 (along the middle of the street)

Fig.1. Study area

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 Marzieh Reisi, Mozhgan Ahmadi Nadoushan and Lu Aye / Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series / 46 (2019): 7–21 11

quently reduce transport-related environmental im- 2016) and by considering the selection criteria, 13
pacts. indicators were selected in three categories, name-
To be able to normalise the indicators in the fol- ly: safety, quality and attractiveness (Table 2). Safe-
lowing steps, Chaharbagh Street was divided into ty indicators are considered in response to the need
five segments (Fig. 1): to provide a liveable and safe environment for peo-
Kazeroni, ple. Quality indicators are related to the physical
Sheikh Bahayi, and structural characteristics of the street. Attrac-
Amadegah, tiveness indicators influence people’s desire to ac-
Seyed Alikhan, cess the place on foot.
Enghelab.
The segments have the same length, and each 2.2.2. Indicator quantification
section provides specific services to citizens.
Figure 2 provides a representative view of Cha- The authors visited the street several times to meas-
harbagh’s atmosphere. ure the 13 selected indicators in the selected seg-
ments (i.e. counting the numbers or measuring the
selected indicators) (Table 2).
2.2. Methods
2.2.3. Indicator normalisation

The development of the WI in this investigation is As the selected indicators were measured in dif-
described in several steps, namely: ferent units, they cannot be aggregated. Therefore,
Selecting built environment indicators that affect it is necessary to convert the indicators to dimen-
walking activities, sionless numbers before aggregation. This process
Quantifying selected indicators, is called normalisation (Nardo et al., 2005). The se-
Normalising the indicators, lected indicators in this study contain both positive
Weighting the indicators, and negative values. Increasing values of positive
Indicator aggregation and index composition and negative indicators have positive and negative
effects on walkability, respectively. In other words,
2.2.1. Indicator selection by increasing positive indicators, WI increases as
well. Meanwhile, by increasing negative indicators,
The selection of indicators is the first step in de- WI would decrease (e.g. number of lights is a posi-
veloping indices such as WI. Indicators are quan- tive indicator improving walkability, while obstruc-
titative variables that are useful for demonstrating tions are negative indicators reducing walkability).
a complex phenomenon (EEA, 2005). It is chal- The normalisation equation differs for positive and
lenging to select a set of indicators that provides negative indicators. Equation 1 shows the normal-
a comprehensive overview of the considered topic isation process for positive and negative indicators
(Castillo, Pitfield, 2010). In this investigation, indi- (Krajnc, Glavic, 2005).
cators were selected based on various selection cri-
teria including relevancy, measurability, simplicity
and data availability. Each indicator must be close-
ly related to the definition of walkability, quantifia-
ble and understandable by users, and the required
data must be available easily and at a reasonable
cost (Li et al., 2009; Dur et al., 2010; Zito, Salvo,
2011; Haghshenas, Vaziri, 2012). Reviewing the lit-
erature listing walking-related indicators (Haw- where: IN, normalised indicator I; “+”, for positive
thorne, 1989; Jacobs, 1993; Atash, 1994; Bauman et indicator; “−”, for negative indicator; min, mini-
al., 1996; Wright et al., 1996; Gallin, 2001; Burden mum value of indicator considering 4 segments;
et al., 2002; Pikora et al., 2003; Motamed, Bitaraf, max, maximum value of indicator considering 4
segments.

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12 Marzieh Reisi, Mozhgan Ahmadi Nadoushan and Lu Aye / Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series / 46 (2019): 7–21

Fig. 2. Chaharbagh’s atmosphere (http://www.qudsonline.ir, https://www.google.com/maps)

2.2.4. Indicator weighting indicator compared to the other. The importance is

quantified based on experts’ judgments on a scale of
Weight of indicator shows the relative importance 1 to 9, where 1 indicates equal importance of paired
and influence that each considered indicator has on indicators, while 9 indicates that one indicator is
walkability. As the weights given to various indi- nine times more important than the other (Saaty,
cators influence the outcome of the created indi- 1990; Albayrak, Erensal, 2004; Sharna et al., 2008;
ces, a transparent method is needed for weighting Gorener, 2012). Considering pairwise comparisons,
(Freudenberg, 2003; Juwana, 2012). Analytical Hi- the relative weight of each indicator is calculated.
erarchy Process (AHP) was applied for weighting Priorities are not assigned arbitrarily in AHP but
indicators in this study. AHP is a multi-criterion de- are derived based on experts’ judgments and pref-
cision-making method, helping decision-makers by erences. Therefore, the priorities have mathemati-
decomposing a complex problem into a hierarchical cal validity (Mu, Pereyra-Rojas, 2016). One of the
structure of aim and related criteria and sub-criteria. main aspects of pairwise comparisons which should
To find indicator weights, AHP performs pairwise be considered during AHP is consistency of judg-
comparisons among indicators in each level of the ments. Consistency ratio (CR), which demonstrates
hierarchy. Pairwise comparisons are made between the coherence of judgments, should be 0.1 at max-
pairs of indicators, showing the importance of one

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 Marzieh Reisi, Mozhgan Ahmadi Nadoushan and Lu Aye / Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series / 46 (2019): 7–21 13

imum. In other words, CR of 0.10 or less would be al weighted scores for each indicator were summed
acceptable (Borajee, Yakchali, 2011; Aragonés-Bel- to obtain a sub-index for each category and then
trán et al., 2014). The weighting procedure using the weighted sub-indices for each category were
AHP is described in detail in Appendix 1. summed to get the final value of WI for the select-
ed street segments (Table 3). The developed indices
2.2.5. Indicator aggregation and index composition are applicable for evaluating the current situation
of built environment features in Chaharbagh and
The indicators were aggregated using the weighted their capability to promote walking. Segment 3 was
linear combination (WLC) method (Mahini, Gho- ranked top in safety and attractiveness. Segment 1
lamalifard, 2006) (Eq. 2). WLC is a form of index was ranked top in safety. Considering overall WI,
overlay technique, considering the normalised val- Segments 1 and 4 were ranked as the most and least
ue and relative weights of indicators in aggregation walkable segments, respectively.
(Al-shabeeb, 2015). The priorities assigned to each segment are
mainly influenced by the weights given to the eval-
uated indicators. Therefore, it would be beneficial
where: to perform a “what-if ” analysis to see how the fi-
WI = Walkability index nal priorities would change if the indicator weights
Wi = Weight of indicator i in category j were different. This process is called sensitivity anal-
Xi = Normalised value of indicator i in category j ysis (Mu, Pereyra-Rojas, 2016). A sensitivity analysis
was conducted to test the accuracy and robustness
of multi-criterion decisions through variation of in-
The normalised value of each indicator in each dicators. In other words, it can be applied for mod-
category was multiplied by the relative weights of el validation. Indicators’ values and weights could
the indicators extracted using AHP in the previous be evaluated in sensitivity analysis. However, due
stage. The weighted values of indicators in each cat- to their subjectivity, indicator weights are more im-
egory were then integrated into a sub-index. In the portant than values in sensitivity analysis. If the
final stage, the weight of each category was multi- ranking of the alternatives remains unchanged af-
plied by the sub-index value and aggregated into the ter sensitivity analysis, it could be concluded that
single WI (Gallin, 2011). the results of the multi-criterion decision analysis
are sufficiently accurate and robust. Otherwise, the
indicator weights should be redefined (Goh, Nobo-
3. Results rio, 2015; Rikalovic et al., 2015).
To test the sensitivity of the AHP model devel-
oped in this study, the indicator weights were var-
Pairwise comparisons and weight assignment based ied by ±20%. The results showed that the priorities
on the AHP method were conducted using Expert of segments were not changed as a result of a 20%
Choice software. The problem (walkability index change in the weight of indicators (Fig. 8).
development) was decomposed into a hierarchical
structure comprising goal, categories and indicators
(Fig. 3). In each level, the indicators were compared
pairwise according to their level of influence, using
4. Highlights
the judgments of local experts in urban planning
and design, transport planning and public health. The contribution of the current study to the field
The calculated weights of categories and indicators could be summarised as follows:
are illustrated in Figs 4–7. As the CR was 0.02, the • A framework to quantify walkability using a
judgments were considered consistent and could be set of indicators was developed.
applied for weight calculation. • Thirteen physical environment indicators
The normalised value for each indicator was were integrated into a single walkability in-
then multiplied by its relative weight. The individu- dex.

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Table 1. Chaharbagh characteristics

Length 1.16 km
Number of car lanes 2
Number of sidewalks 3 (Two frontage sidewalks and one along the middle of street)
Min:1 m for frontages
Sidewalk width
Max: 1.5 m for middle sidewalk
Bicycle lanes 2 (along the middle of the street)

Table 2. Selected built-environment indicators affecting walkability

Overall
along
Category Indicator Ways of measurement
entire
street
Lighting Number of lights 86
Number of facilities provided to assist in the safe crossing of
Safety Chaharbagh Street by pedestrians, including median refuges,
Crossing availability 7
pelican crossings, guarded crossings, crosswalks, underpasses
and overpasses
Number of potential vehicle conflict points along Chaharbagh
Potential for vehicle conflicts 8
including intersections
Average sidewalk width along the street including middle and
Sidewalk width 1.16 m
frontages [m]
Number of obstacles e.g. poles, signs, chairs along sidewalks,
both middle and frontages. Stairs are considered an obstruc-
Obstructions 53
tion if no alternative is available for people with mobility dis-
Quality abilities
Number of facilities that assist pedestrians during their
journey along the entire street, including tactile paving, co-
Support facilities 19
lour-contrast kerbing, kerb ramps, lane markings signage,
landings on long ramps
Number of ramps for disabled people along the road and side-
Facilities for disabled people 4
walks
Natural features (trees) or
Area (m2) along Chaharbagh 21,400 m2
parks
Cinemas, cultural centres
(historical places, architec- Number 5
ture)
Amenities
Retail trade/ gastronomy /
and Attrac- Area (m2) 45,600 m2
services
tions
Fixed furniture: presence of
benches and other places to Number 23
rest
Public toilets Number 2
Public transportation Number of stations 3

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• The framework could be applied for correc- their importance, and integrating them into a sin-
tive actions in urban design. gle WI. It provides a quantitative benchmark to ex-
plore walkability potential provided by the street, as
well as determining factors contributing to the re-
5. Discussion and Conclusions sultant WI. The effect of built environment inter-
vention on walkability of an area is widely accepted
(Frank et al., 2006; Christian et al., 2011; Boulange
This investigation quantified 13 built environment et al., 2017). While other studies applied public in-
indicators under three categories (safety, quali- puts for qualifying built environment features, in
ty, attractiveness) affecting walkability in Chahar- this study built environment features and their ef-
bagh Street. A walkability index was defined and fects on walkability were investigated and quanti-
developed by assigning weights to the indicators by fied based on field measurements. Therefore, the

Fig. 3. Hierarchical structure of the aim

Fig. 4. Category weights using AHP Fig. 5. Safety indicator weights using AHP

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16 Marzieh Reisi, Mozhgan Ahmadi Nadoushan and Lu Aye / Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series / 46 (2019): 7–21

Fig. 6. Quality indicator weights using AHP Fig. 7. Attractiveness indicator weights using AHP

Table 3. Sub-indices and WI for selected segments

Segment Safety Quality Attractiveness WI

1 0.328 0.216 0.122 0.248
2 0.185 0.200 0.258 0.201
3 0.189 0.228 0.267 0.217
4 0.106 0.175 0.217 0.153
5 0.192 0.181 0.136 0.180

results of the study could be a starting point for de- mixed use, which attracts a large number of people
veloping evidence-based urban planning strategies to Chaharbagh Street. With sub-indices and over-
to promote walking. The transparent and under- all WI below 0.5 in all segments, it could be con-
standable approach to indicator selection, quanti- cluded that Chaharbagh Street design could not be
fication, weighting and index development could supportive for a car-free plan in its current form
also help decision-makers in finding characteristics and more facilities are needed to encourage walk-
of the built environment that need improvement ing. In other words, safety, design and attractive-
to reach high walkability levels. Moreover, with re- ness are not at a level to encourage walking as a
duced funds for motorised transport, finding areas means to reduce the environmental impacts of oth-
with the potential to offset automobile use, and to er modes of transport.
reduce traffic congestion and air pollutants, is re- Despite the applicability of the obtained results
warding. for urban planning, some challenges are associated
Despite introducing car-free Tuesday to pro- with the investigation, including:
mote walking, no built environment interventions 1. Selection of walkability indicators: Selecting
are conducted to encourage walking in Chaharbagh. a set of indicators which provides a com-
Therefore, to promote walking, the right mix of in- prehensive overview of the considered sys-
terventions is needed for the study area. The devel- tem is challenging (Castillo, Pitfield, 2010).
oped indicators and the overall WI in this study are While selecting a small number of indicators
well suited to evaluating the Chaharbagh pedestri- is convenient, it may overlook important im-
an system and determining improvements needed pacts. On the other hand, a large number
for the street. According to the results, the exist- of indicators is comprehensive, but collec-
ing support facilities, crossing availability, facilities tion and analysis costs may be prohibitive.
for the disabled, public toilets and public transport Relevancy, measurability, simplicity and data
stations are insufficient to encourage walking, and availability were considered important selec-
improvements are needed in these aspects. On the tion criteria in this investigation.
other hand, the whole street provides outstanding

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 Marzieh Reisi, Mozhgan Ahmadi Nadoushan and Lu Aye / Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series / 46 (2019): 7–21 17

Fig. 8. Sensitivity analysis for +20% changes in ‘Safety’ weight

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on walkability in Egyptian gated communities. Arch- parison matrix, if a value of 2 is provided as the im-
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a value of 3 is assigned as the importance of the

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 Marzieh Reisi, Mozhgan Ahmadi Nadoushan and Lu Aye / Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series / 46 (2019): 7–21 21

Table A1. Pair wise comparison matrix for categories

Safety Quality Attractiveness

Safety 1 7 8
Quality 1/7 1 2
Attractiveness 1/8 1/2 1

second indicator with respect to the third, the im- 4) The consistency index (CI) was calculated us-
portance of the first indicator with respect to the ing Eq. A1:
third should be 2×3 = 6, for a consistent judgment.
Assigning a value other than 6 would result in a
level of inconsistency in the matrix of judgments.
Therefore, some inconsistency is expected in AHP Where n = number of compared indicators
analysis as the result of the subjective preferences
of experts (Mu, Pereyra-Rojas, 2016). To calculate 5) Consistency ratio was obtained using Eq. A2:
consistency for the study, several steps were under-
taken:
1) Each value in the first column of the com- Where RI = Random consistent index presented by
parison matrix was multiplied by the first indicator (Alonso, Lamata, 2006) based on number of select-
weight. This process was continued for all columns ed indicators.
of the comparison matrix, resulting in a weighted
matrix. As mentioned earlier, all steps for weights and
2) The values in each row of the weighted matrix consistency calculation were conducted using Ex-
were added to obtain values called “weighted sum”. pert Choice software in this study.
3) The elements of the weighted sum were divid-
ed by the corresponding indicator weight and aver-
aged to extract λmax.

The proofreading of articles, positively reviewed and approved for publishing in the ‘Bulletin of
Geography. Socio-economic Series’, was financed from the funds of the Ministry of Science and Higher
Education earmarked for activities popularizing science, in line with Agreement No 695/P-DUN/2018.

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