School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Xiamen Urban Planning & Design Institute, Xiamen, China.
Front Public Health. 2020 Nov 5;8:577140. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.577140. eCollection 2020.
The built environment is an important factor affecting physical activity, especially walkability. Walkability is used to characterize the user friendliness of outdoor physical activity. However, studies on walkability and physical activity are mainly concentrated on low-density Western cities. Study on the walkability of high-density cities in Asia, especially with the elderly, is seriously lacking. And walkability is often used as a composite indicator. This study mainly re-examines the relationship between the common indicators of walkability (population density, street connectivity, land-use mix, and retail density), transport-related walking, and leisure-time walking with older adults in China's megacities. Twelve housing estates in Wuhan were selected for study areas. We explored the association between the walking activities of 1,161 elderly people (≥60 years old) and the indicators of walkability in their neighborhoods. Socio-demographic characteristics were controlled in the multilevel logistic regression models of the built environment walking associations. We found that there was no significant correlation between the four indicators of walkability and transport-related walking. Street connectivity is significantly positively correlated with the participants' leisure-time walking (OR = 1.499, 95% CI = 1.068~2.103), and there was no significant correlation between the other indicator of walkability and leisure-time walking. The results show that there was no statistical correlation between walkability and transport-related walking in the elderly, and only one indicator was related to leisure-time walking. It is extremely important to re-examine the characteristics of built environments and elderly walking activities in high-density cities. Only by implementing effective intervention strategies in different urban backgrounds can cities move toward a more active and healthier path.
建成环境是影响身体活动的一个重要因素，尤其是步行的可达性。步行的可达性用于描述户外活动的用户友好程度。然而，步行的可达性和身体活动的研究主要集中在低密度的西方城市。对于亚洲高密度城市，特别是老年人的步行的可达性研究严重不足。而且，步行的可达性通常被用作一个综合指标。本研究主要重新检验了在中国特大城市中，步行的可达性的常见指标（人口密度、街道连通性、土地利用混合度和零售密度）、与交通相关的步行和休闲时间步行与老年人之间的关系。选择武汉市的 12 个住宅区作为研究区域。我们探索了 1161 名老年人（≥60 岁）的步行活动与邻里步行的可达性指标之间的关系。在关于建成环境步行关联的多层次逻辑回归模型中控制了社会人口统计学特征。我们发现，步行的可达性的四个指标与与交通相关的步行之间没有显著相关性。街道连通性与参与者的休闲时间步行显著正相关（OR=1.499，95%CI=1.068~2.103），而其他步行的可达性指标与休闲时间步行没有显著相关性。研究结果表明，步行的可达性与老年人的与交通相关的步行之间没有统计学相关性，只有一个指标与休闲时间步行相关。在高密度城市中，重新检验建成环境的特征和老年人的步行活动特征极其重要。只有在不同的城市背景下实施有效的干预策略，城市才能走向更积极、更健康的道路。
