Studying the influence of human built environment attributes on walking activity in residential neighborhoods (A case study: zone 7 in Tehran)

Walking is the most prevalent type of physical activity. Multiple factors affect whether an individual is physically active or not. Research to date has found that psychological and social factors partly explain why people engage in physical activity. However, the inability of these models to fully explain why people engage in physical activity has led to consideration of the built environment as a factor that may influence levels of physical activity. This research was conducted with the main objective of studying the effects of built environment on walking activity in zone 7 in Tehran. The research method is descriptive and analytical. Data collection was done in both documentary and field methodology. The statistical population of this research includes people over 15 years of age, zone 7 of Tehran and the sample size was calculated using Cochran formula, which is equal to 384. The analysis unit is Individual, and the analysis level is the neighborhood. The study process was carried out in two general stages. In the first stage, we first measured neighborhoods in Tehran's 7 zone based on the walkability index. The neighborhoods were at three levels: High walkability neighborhoods, moderate walkability neighborhoods and low walkability neighborhoods. Then, in the next step, it was measured the people walking time within their neighborhoods, through the distribution of questionnaires and self- reported of the participants. The results showed that there is a significant difference between the walking amount of the inhabitants of the neighborhoods, with different walkability level. In such a way, people living in neighborhoods with High walkability neighborhoods, are more likely to walk in the within their neighborhood. Also, the results indicate that there is a significant relationship between walking by residential density and street connectivity, but there is no relationship between walking and land use mix within neighborhoods.