Relationship between Spatial Analysis of Streets and Walking Behavior

Abstract

There is diversity and complexity in the spatial analysis that encompasses the analytical perspectives of social segregation in new communities. This research aims to explore the correlations that could predict potentials for walkable environments as a contributor to minimizing social segregation in new communities. The research addresses the spatial configuration analysis of street networks, using space syntax as well as the ground floor use considering the spatiotemporal dimension. The study was conducted in Sheikh Zayed City, a new community in the Greater Cairo Region, Egypt. Various theories and methods use space syntax in practice and empirical research to analyze the spatial relationships in the physical built environment. This research explores the predictive power of space syntax and introduces mixed methods to better investigate the significant relationships between walking behavior and street spatial analysis. The syntactic measures of the streets (global and local integration, choice, and connectivity) are articulated, and ground floor use [using geographic information system (GIS)] is overlaid. Walking behavior is recorded at different times of the week, incorporating the purpose of pedestrian trips, and added in the correlational analysis. A principal component analysis (PCA) followed by multiple regression analysis reveals the explanatory results of relations between the spatial variables for predictable actions. The research findings deduced that ground floor use distribution could predict walking behavior and trip purposes at different times of the week while street syntactic measures vary in their explanatory power on walking behavior, especially when considering the time of the day dimension. Thus, the study concludes that space syntax as an analytic tool should be complemented by other methods that address a wider spectrum of variables pertaining to spatial street properties. The proposed combination of methods can better guide street design, create more walkable communities, and achieve social integration.