Citation

Kim EJ, Kim YJ. Sustainability (Basel) 2020; 12(1): e176.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/su12010176

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate walkability levels using popular indices and check the measurement reliability between those indices. This study evaluates the city of Seoul, using 100 × 100 m grid points (N = 44,000) as spatial units of analysis. In this study, four types of indices were used to measure walkability levels: Walkability index (WI), Walk score (WS), Pedshed (Ps), and Movability index (MI). This study utilizes Pearson’s R, Brand–Altman plot with limit of agreement (LOA), and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) as reliability check methods. The measurement reliability among the four indices was found to be relatively high. The Pearson’s R values were between 0.308 and 0.645, and the range of inside LOA of Brand–Altman plots was 94.5% to 95.5%. The ICC value of the four indices was 0.544, indicating moderate reliability. The results reveal a relatively high level of measurement reliability between the four indices. On the basis of this study’s results, the level of walkability in other cities in Korea can be ascertained. The study may provide future direction for walkability index development that considers urban environmental characteristics. From the results, we expect that future urban planning and policies will aim to improve walkability.

Language: en

Keywords

reliability; Bland-Altman plot; city of Seoul; intraclass correlation coefficient; moveability index; pedshed; walk score; walkability index