IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v15y2018i7p1363-d155126.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Walking and Walkability in Pre-Set and Self-Defined Neighborhoods: A Mental Mapping Study in Older Adults

Author

Listed:
  • Malte Bödeker

    (Department of Prevention and Health Promotion, School of Public Health, Bielefeld University, Post Office Box 10 01 31, Bielefeld D-33501, Germany
    Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Institute of Public Health, Schweinauer Hauptstraße 80, Nuremberg D-90441, Germany)

Abstract

Neighborhood walkability contributes to older adults’ walking. However, associations vary depending on the neighborhood definition applied as well as between objective and perceived walkability measures. Therefore, this study aimed to comparatively assess walkability indices for commonly used pedestrian network buffers and perceived neighborhood areas. A total of 97 adults aged ≥65 years answered a written physical activity questionnaire and 69 respondents participated in face-to-face interviews that involved mental mapping, i.e., to draw perceived neighborhood delineations on paper maps. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to compare the contribution of walkability indices for pre-set buffers and self-defined neighborhoods to older adults’ walking after adjusting for covariates. Results show that older adults’ self-defined neighborhoods are significantly larger, less home-centered, and more walkable than commonly used buffers. Furthermore, the variance accounted for in neighborhood walking increased from 35.9% to 40.4% (ΔR 2 = 0.046; p = 0.029), when the walkability index was calculated for self-defined neighborhoods rather than pre-set buffers. Therefore, the study supports that geometric differences between pre-set buffers and older adults’ spatial ideas of perceived neighborhoods have a significant influence on estimated walkability effects and that exposure areas should be matched with the spatial dimension of outcome variables in future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Malte Bödeker, 2018. "Walking and Walkability in Pre-Set and Self-Defined Neighborhoods: A Mental Mapping Study in Older Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-12, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:7:p:1363-:d:155126
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/7/1363/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/7/1363/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pengxiang Zhao & Mei-Po Kwan & Suhong Zhou, 2018. "The Uncertain Geographic Context Problem in the Analysis of the Relationships between Obesity and the Built Environment in Guangzhou," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-20, February.
    2. Berke, E.M. & Koepsell, T.D. & Moudon, A.V. & Hoskins, R.E. & Larson, E.B., 2007. "Association of the built environment with physical activity and obesity in older persons," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(3), pages 486-492.
    3. Maren Reyer & Stefan Fina & Stefan Siedentop & Wolfgang Schlicht, 2014. "Walkability is Only Part of the Story: Walking for Transportation in Stuttgart, Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-17, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jue Wang & Mei-Po Kwan & Yanwei Chai, 2018. "An Innovative Context-Based Crystal-Growth Activity Space Method for Environmental Exposure Assessment: A Study Using GIS and GPS Trajectory Data Collected in Chicago," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-24, April.
    2. Jiawei Li & Jun Zhang, 2024. "A Study on the Impact of Street Environment on Elderly Leisure Path Preferences Based on the Stated Preference Method (SP Method)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-24, September.
    3. Junghwan Kim & Mei-Po Kwan, 2018. "Beyond Commuting: Ignoring Individuals’ Activity-Travel Patterns May Lead to Inaccurate Assessments of Their Exposure to Traffic Congestion," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-20, December.
    4. Mark P.C. Cherrie & Niamh K. Shortt & Catharine Ward Thompson & Ian J. Deary & Jamie R. Pearce, 2019. "Association Between the Activity Space Exposure to Parks in Childhood and Adolescence and Cognitive Aging in Later Life," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-13, February.
    5. Nan Jia & Yinshuai Li & Ruishan Chen & Hongbo Yang, 2023. "A Review of Global PM 2.5 Exposure Research Trends from 1992 to 2022," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-15, July.
    6. Aurélie Mercier & Stéphanie Souche‐Le Corvec & Nicolas Ovtracht, 2021. "Measure of accessibility to postal services in France: A potential spatial accessibility approach applied in an urban region," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(1), pages 227-249, February.
    7. Zhenhua Zheng & Hong Chen & Junling Gao, 2021. "Age Differences in the Influence of Residential Environment and Behavior on the Life Quality of Older Adults: The Transfer from Physical-Environment to Social-Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-14, January.
    8. Fabiana R. Sousa-Mast & Arianne C. Reis & Marcelo C. Vieira & Sandro Sperandei & Luilma A. Gurgel & Uwe Pühse, 2017. "Does being an Olympic city help improve recreational resources? Examining the quality of physical activity resources in a low-income neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 62(2), pages 263-268, March.
    9. Amer Habibullah & Nawaf Alhajaj & Ahmad Fallatah, 2022. "One-Kilometer Walking Limit during COVID-19: Evaluating Accessibility to Residential Public Open Spaces in a Major Saudi City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, October.
    10. Zhenhua Zheng & Hong Chen & Liu Yang, 2019. "Transfer of Promotion Effects on Elderly Health with Age: From Physical Environment to Interpersonal Environment and Social Participation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-15, August.
    11. Clarke, Philippa J. & Ailshire, Jennifer A. & Nieuwenhuijsen, Els R. & de Kleijn - de Vrankrijker, Marijke W., 2011. "Participation among adults with disability: The role of the urban environment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(10), pages 1674-1684, May.
    12. Neatt, Kevin & Millward, Hugh & Spinney, Jamie, 2017. "Neighborhood walking densities: A multivariate analysis in Halifax, Canada," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 9-16.
    13. Folk, György, 2019. "Weal: the universal core of human well-being," MPRA Paper 97082, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Peng Zang & Fei Xian & Hualong Qiu & Shifa Ma & Hongxu Guo & Mengrui Wang & Linchuan Yang, 2022. "Differences in the Correlation between the Built Environment and Walking, Moderate, and Vigorous Physical Activity among the Elderly in Low- and High-Income Areas," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-15, February.
    15. Perchoux, Camille & Kestens, Yan & Thomas, Frédérique & Hulst, Andraea Van & Thierry, Benoit & Chaix, Basile, 2014. "Assessing patterns of spatial behavior in health studies: Their socio-demographic determinants and associations with transportation modes (the RECORD Cohort Study)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 64-73.
    16. Gerlinde Grasser & Delfien Dyck & Sylvia Titze & Willibald Stronegger, 2013. "Objectively measured walkability and active transport and weight-related outcomes in adults: a systematic review," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 58(4), pages 615-625, August.
    17. Zhuoran Shan & Hongfei Li & Haolan Pan & Man Yuan & Shen Xu, 2022. "Spatial Equity of PM 2.5 Pollution Exposures in High-Density Metropolitan Areas Based on Remote Sensing, LBS and GIS Data: A Case Study in Wuhan, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-22, October.
    18. Lingling Su & Suhong Zhou, 2022. "Long-Term Residential Environment Exposure and Subjective Wellbeing in Later Life in Guangzhou, China: Moderated by Residential Mobility History," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-18, October.
    19. Pengxiang Zhao & Mei-Po Kwan & Suhong Zhou, 2018. "The Uncertain Geographic Context Problem in the Analysis of the Relationships between Obesity and the Built Environment in Guangzhou," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-20, February.
    20. Arezou Shafaghat & Salim Ferwati & Ali Keyvanfar, 2022. "COVID-19-Adapted Multi-Functional Corniche Street Design Assessment Model: Applying Global Sensitivity Analysis (GSA) and Adaptability Analysis Methods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-27, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:7:p:1363-:d:155126. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.