An Index to Measure Walkability in Urban Environments
Submission Type
Event
Faculty Advisor
Aaron Wilson
Expected Graduation Date
2020
Location
Center for Natural Sciences
Start Date
4-4-2020 9:00 AM
End Date
4-4-2020 10:00 AM
Disciplines
Education | Environmental Sciences
Abstract
From environmental, health, and economic standpoints, automobile centered infrastructure is problematic. For instance, automobiles emit the most CO2 per person per mile for everyday travel. Due to the shortcomings of American’s automobile dependence, the concept of “walkability”, or how easy and friendly an area’s environment is to walk in, has seen a surge of interest. In this study, indicators of walkability in Bloomington-Normal, IL were mapped using ArcMap GIS software. Indicators of walkability included the number of network junctions, population density, and presence of quality points. Quality points in this study are defined as locations that improve quality of life by providing common necessities. We used these to replace urban land use mix which was commonly used in previous studies. We believe that this change will better reflect the quality of life improvement inherent in a walkable urban environment. The walkability index was calculated for randomly selected points throughout Bloomington-Normal and estimated through spatial interpolation for all spaces in between. We found a hot spot of high walkability centered on uptown Normal and downtown Bloomington that extends south-east and north.
An Index to Measure Walkability in Urban Environments
Center for Natural Sciences
From environmental, health, and economic standpoints, automobile centered infrastructure is problematic. For instance, automobiles emit the most CO2 per person per mile for everyday travel. Due to the shortcomings of American’s automobile dependence, the concept of “walkability”, or how easy and friendly an area’s environment is to walk in, has seen a surge of interest. In this study, indicators of walkability in Bloomington-Normal, IL were mapped using ArcMap GIS software. Indicators of walkability included the number of network junctions, population density, and presence of quality points. Quality points in this study are defined as locations that improve quality of life by providing common necessities. We used these to replace urban land use mix which was commonly used in previous studies. We believe that this change will better reflect the quality of life improvement inherent in a walkable urban environment. The walkability index was calculated for randomly selected points throughout Bloomington-Normal and estimated through spatial interpolation for all spaces in between. We found a hot spot of high walkability centered on uptown Normal and downtown Bloomington that extends south-east and north.