The correlation between street network characteristics, pedestrian leisure path selection and subjective preferences

Abstract

Pedestrian-friendly streets reflect the humanization of cities and sufficient attention should be paid to the behaviour and preferences of pedestrians. This research aims to reveal the inherent correlation among objective street features, actual street choices, and subjective preference-based street features by comparing them. Seven indicators are used to quantify the objective characteristics of the structure of the street network and the streets themselves. Simulated recreational walking data are obtained through the map recording method. Based on the respondents’ subjective preference questionnaire responses, factor analysis is used to extract a total of five factors representing their recreational walking preferences: ‘diversity’, ‘width’, ‘sinuosity’, ‘interesting’ and ‘near’. This study reveals that the subjective preferences for street types do not completely match the actual street choices. Additionally, a diverse combination of street types is more likely to provide interest during the walking process. This study provides a theoretical basis for the planning of pedestrian-friendly streets and street structures.