The Built Environment and Walking Activity of the Elderly: An Empirical Analysis in the Zhongshan Metropolitan Area, China

Yi Zhang, Yuan Li, Qixing Liu and Chaoyang Li
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Yi Zhang: School of Naval Architecture Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, 200240 Shanghai, China
Yuan Li: School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Xiamen University, 422 South Siming Road, 361005 Xiamen, China
Qixing Liu: Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Chaoyang Li: School of Naval Architecture Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, 200240 Shanghai, China

Sustainability, 2014, vol. 6, issue 2, 1-17

Abstract: Policies and interventions involving the built environment have become a promising opportunity for the promotion of walking as a sustainable transportation mode. Among voluminous literature, few studies were found that examined the association between the built environment and walking among the elderly in China. This study investigated the relationship between the built environment and the walking activity of the elderly based on data collected in Zhongshan Metropolitan Area, China. The results suggest that abundant sidewalks, dense bus stops, easily accessible commercial establishments, and ample green land space are potentially effective to enhance walking among the elderly, albeit to varied degrees. The compact urban form, which is considered as walkability in the western context, may not necessarily play a positive role in Zhongshan’s context. The findings provide insights into the policy-making to promote sustainable transportation modes and the design of interventions on health promotion of the elderly in China.

Keywords: built environment; walking activity; the elderly; probability; frequency and duration; Zero-inflated Poisson Regression; sustainable transportation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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