IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i23p13259-d691927.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can We Build Walkable Environments to Support Social Capital? Towards a Spatial Understanding of Social Capital; a Scoping Review

Author

Listed:
  • Paloma Morales-Flores

    (Department of Architectural Technology, Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB), Polytechnic University of Catalonia, 08028 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Carlos Marmolejo-Duarte

    (Center of Land Policy and Valuations, Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB), Polytechnic University of Catalonia, 08028 Barcelona, Spain)

Abstract

Empirical evidence suggests that it is possible to socially renew neighbourhoods through the formation of social capital (SC) as an effect of walking. The characteristics of the built environment that influence walkability and SC have been relatively well established by previous research, but contrasts remain. Therefore, this document seeks to investigate the relationship between SC and walkability, through a Scoping Review of empirical studies published in indexed journals in the Web of Science and Scopus. The findings indicate that the formation of SC as an effect of walking is associated with land use and the design of neighbourhood facilities; the provision of urban furniture (benches) and green spaces; and that the design and configuration of the neighbourhoods affects SC even more than the excess density. In addition, the methodological strategies used to arrive at these results were reviewed. The conclusions suggest the need to study this issue from an updated perspective, where new neighbourhood interaction systems can be tracked (that provide new indicators), using advanced tools and technologies that help streamline and make measurements more objective.

Suggested Citation

  • Paloma Morales-Flores & Carlos Marmolejo-Duarte, 2021. "Can We Build Walkable Environments to Support Social Capital? Towards a Spatial Understanding of Social Capital; a Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-15, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:23:p:13259-:d:691927
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/23/13259/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/23/13259/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wood, Lisa & Giles-Corti, Billie & Bulsara, Max, 2005. "The pet connection: Pets as a conduit for social capital?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 1159-1173, September.
    2. Helo Oidjarv, 2018. "The Tale of Two Communities: Residents’ Perceptions of the Built Environment and Neighborhood Social Capital," SAGE Open, , vol. 8(2), pages 21582440187, April.
    3. Saelens, B.E. & Sallis, J.F. & Black, J.B. & Chen, D., 2003. "Neighborhood-Based Differences in Physical Activity: An Environment Scale Evaluation," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1552-1558.
    4. Shannon Rogers & Semra Aytur & Kevin Gardner & Cynthia Carlson, 2012. "Measuring community sustainability: exploring the intersection of the built environment & social capital with a participatory case study," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 2(2), pages 143-153, June.
    5. Heechul Kim & Seungho Yang, 2017. "Neighborhood Walking and Social Capital: The Correlation between Walking Experience and Individual Perception of Social Capital," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-16, April.
    6. van den Berg, Pauline & Sharmeen, Fariya & Weijs-Perrée, Minou, 2017. "On the subjective quality of social Interactions: Influence of neighborhood walkability, social cohesion and mobility choices," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 309-319.
    7. Leyden, K.M., 2003. "Social Capital and the Built Environment: The Importance of Walkable Neighborhoods," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1546-1551.
    8. Eunju Hwang & Nancy Brossoie & Jin Wook Jeong & Kimin Song, 2021. "The Impacts of the Neighborhood Built Environment on Social Capital for Middle-Aged and Elderly Koreans," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-15, January.
    9. Shannon H. Rogers & Kevin H. Gardner & Cynthia H. Carlson, 2013. "Social Capital and Walkability as Social Aspects of Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(8), pages 1-11, August.
    10. Francis, Jacinta & Wood, Lisa J. & Knuiman, Matthew & Giles-Corti, Billie, 2012. "Quality or quantity? Exploring the relationship between Public Open Space attributes and mental health in Perth, Western Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(10), pages 1570-1577.
    11. Wood, Lisa & Frank, Lawrence D. & Giles-Corti, Billie, 2010. "Sense of community and its relationship with walking and neighborhood design," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(9), pages 1381-1390, May.
    12. Hong, Andy & Sallis, James F. & King, Abby C. & Conway, Terry L. & Saelens, Brian & Cain, Kelli L. & Fox, Eric H. & Frank, Lawrence D., 2018. "Linking green space to neighborhood social capital in older adults: The role of perceived safety," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 38-45.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wei Wang & Yun Gao & Adrian Pitts & Lili Dong, 2023. "A Bibliometric Analysis of Neighborhood Sense of Community," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Maeder, Stefanie & Stauffacher, Michael & Knaus, Florian, 2023. "Zooming in and out on everyday mobility practices in a rural, mountainous area of Switzerland," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    3. Poklewski-Koziełł, Damian & Dudzic-Gyurkovich, Karolina & Duarte, Carlos Marmolejo, 2023. "Investigating urban form, and walkability measures in the new developments. The case study of Garnizon in Gdansk," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Byungsuk Kim & Jina Park, 2018. "Effects of Commercial Activities by Type on Social Bonding and Place Attachment in Neighborhoods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-14, May.
    2. Melissa Bartshe & Courtney Coughenour & Jennifer Pharr, 2018. "Perceived Walkability, Social Capital, and Self-Reported Physical Activity in Las Vegas College Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-11, August.
    3. Bradley Bereitschaft, 2017. "Equity in Microscale Urban Design and Walkability: A Photographic Survey of Six Pittsburgh Streetscapes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-20, July.
    4. Tashi Dendup & Xiaoqi Feng & Stephanie Clingan & Thomas Astell-Burt, 2018. "Environmental Risk Factors for Developing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-25, January.
    5. Majd Homoud & Ola M. Jarrar, 2024. "Walkability in Riyadh: A Comprehensive Assessment and Implications for Sustainable Community—Al-Falah Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-27, September.
    6. Yuan Gao & Jusheng Song & Chong Cui & Yiming Li, 2025. "Influence of the Built Environment on Elder Social Capital and Its Structure: An Empirical Study Based on Three Characteristic Communities in High-Density Cities of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-26, September.
    7. Wati, Kala & Tranter, Paul J., 2015. "Spatial and socio-demographic determinants of South East Queensland students’ school cycling," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 23-36.
    8. Hosseini Shoabjareh, Azamsadat & Ghasri, Milad, 2025. "Potential effects of parent–child joint school trips on parents’ wellbeing: A conceptual framework," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    9. Andrews, Gavin J. & Hall, Edward & Evans, Bethan & Colls, Rachel, 2012. "Moving beyond walkability: On the potential of health geography," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(11), pages 1925-1932.
    10. Chisun Yoo & Sugie Lee, 2016. "Neighborhood Built Environments Affecting Social Capital and Social Sustainability in Seoul, Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-22, December.
    11. Peng Yang & Shanshan Dai & Honggang Xu & Peng Ju, 2018. "Perceived Environmental, Individual and Social Factors of Long-Distance Collective Walking in Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-20, November.
    12. Van Cauwenberg, Jelle & De Donder, Liesbeth & Clarys, Peter & De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse & Buffel, Tine & De Witte, Nico & Dury, Sarah & Verté, Dominique & Deforche, Benedicte, 2014. "Relationships between the perceived neighborhood social environment and walking for transportation among older adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 23-30.
    13. Wei Gao & Yukari Nagai, 2021. "The Influence of Street Microenvironment on the Walking Activities of Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study Based on the Structural Equation Model and Manipulated Photos," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-19, November.
    14. Michael Eichinger & Sylvia Titze & Bernd Haditsch & Thomas E Dorner & Willibald J Stronegger, 2015. "How Are Physical Activity Behaviors and Cardiovascular Risk Factors Associated with Characteristics of the Built and Social Residential Environment?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-15, June.
    15. Ferdman, Avigail, 2021. "Well-being and mobility: A new perspective," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 44-55.
    16. Anna Visvizi & Shahira Assem Abdel-Razek & Roman Wosiek & Radosław Malik, 2021. "Conceptualizing Walking and Walkability in the Smart City through a Model Composite w 2 Smart City Utility Index," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-20, December.
    17. Seigo Mitsutake & Tatsuro Ishizaki & Yuri Yokoyama & Mariko Nishi & Mohammad Javad Koohsari & Koichiro Oka & Shohei Yano & Takumi Abe & Akihiko Kitamura, 2021. "Do Walking-Friendly Built Environments Influence Frailty and Long-Term Care Insurance Service Needs?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-11, May.
    18. Mingshu Wang & Floris Vermeulen, 2021. "Life between buildings from a street view image: What do big data analytics reveal about neighbourhood organisational vitality?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(15), pages 3118-3139, November.
    19. Viniece Jennings & Alessandro Rigolon & Jasmine Thompson & Athena Murray & Ariel Henderson & Richard Schulterbrandt Gragg, 2024. "The Dynamic Relationship between Social Cohesion and Urban Green Space in Diverse Communities: Opportunities and Challenges to Public Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(6), pages 1-17, June.
    20. Noelia Somarriba Arechavala & Pilar Zarzosa Espina & Ana Teresa López Pastor, 2022. "The Importance of the Neighbourhood Environment and Social Capital for Happiness in a Vulnerable District: The Case of the Pajarillos District in Spain," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 1941-1965, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:23:p:13259-:d:691927. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.