IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i18p13868-d1242423.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the Walkability of Senior Citizens in a Densely Populated Neighborhood of Chennai, India—A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Dharmambigai Prithviraj

    (School of Architecture and Planning, Anna University, Chennai 600025, India)

  • Lakshmi Sundaram

    (Division of Transportation Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Anna University, Chennai 600025, India)

Abstract

Walking is the most sustainable, safe, and active mode of transportation among the elderly. There is growing evidence that the built environment influences walkability. However, little research has been conducted to assess the perceived built environment correlates for senior citizens walking in low- and middle-income countries. This paper explores the relationship between built environment characteristics and the walkability of senior citizens in Triplicane, Chennai, India. Seniors aged 60 years and above, both men and women, living in Triplicane, Chennai, were interviewed (n = 221). Personal characteristics and perceived built environment factors were assessed using the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale for India (NEWS India). Data were analyzed using SPSS 26 and AMOS 21 software. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to examine the association between the built environment characteristics and the walkability of senior citizens. The results show that built environment attributes, namely pedestrian safety infrastructure, physical barriers of the neighborhood, and aesthetics, have a high impact on walkability among senior citizens.

Suggested Citation

  • Dharmambigai Prithviraj & Lakshmi Sundaram, 2023. "Exploring the Walkability of Senior Citizens in a Densely Populated Neighborhood of Chennai, India—A Structural Equation Modeling Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-17, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:18:p:13868-:d:1242423
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/18/13868/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/18/13868/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stanko Laković & Tomaž Tollazzi & Chiara Gruden, 2023. "Elderly Pedestrians and Road Safety: Findings from the Slovenian Accident Database and Measures for Improving Their Safety," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, January.
    2. Rabi Narayan Mohanty & Prabhjot Singh Chani, 2020. "Assessment of pedestrians’ travel experience at the religious city of Puri using structural equation modelling," Journal of Urban Design, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 486-504, June.
    3. Adewale L. Oyeyemi & Sanda M. Kolo & Adamu A. Rufai & Adetoyeje Y. Oyeyemi & Babatunji A. Omotara & James F. Sallis, 2019. "Associations of Neighborhood Walkability with Sedentary Time in Nigerian Older Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-12, May.
    4. Eun Jung Kim & Suin Jin, 2023. "Walk Score and Neighborhood Walkability: A Case Study of Daegu, South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-12, February.
    5. Yang Cao & Hao Wu & Hongbin Wang & Yawei Qu & Yan Zeng & Xiyu Mu, 2022. "How Do Block Built Environments Affect Daily Leisure Walking among the Elderly? A Empirical Study of Gaoyou, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-22, December.
    6. Deepti Adlakha & Murali Krishna & Ryan Woolrych & Geraint Ellis, 2020. "Neighbourhood Supports for Active Ageing in Urban India," Psychology and Developing Societies, , vol. 32(2), pages 254-277, September.
    7. Razieh Zandieh & Javier Martinez & Johannes Flacke & Phil Jones & Martin Van Maarseveen, 2016. "Older Adults’ Outdoor Walking: Inequalities in Neighbourhood Safety, Pedestrian Infrastructure and Aesthetics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-24, November.
    8. Chaudhury, Habib & Campo, Michael & Michael, Yvonne & Mahmood, Atiya, 2016. "Neighbourhood environment and physical activity in older adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 104-113.
    9. Siegel, P.Z. & Brackbill, R.M. & Heath, G.W., 1995. "The epidemiology of walking for exercise: Implications for promoting activity among sedentary groups," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 85(5), pages 706-710.
    10. Deepti Adlakha & J. Aaron Hipp & Ross C. Brownson, 2016. "Adaptation and Evaluation of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale in India (NEWS-India)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-24, April.
    11. Angela Curl & Helen Fitt & Melanie Tomintz, 2020. "Experiences of the Built Environment, Falls and Fear of Falling Outdoors among Older Adults: An Exploratory Study and Future Directions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-15, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Jingrui Sun & Zhenjun Zhu & Ji Han & Zhanpeng He & Xinfang Xu, 2023. "Influence of the Built Environment on Older Adults’ Travel Time: Evidence from the Nanjing Metropolitan Area, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-19, June.
    2. Amber L. Pearson & Victoria Breeze & Aaron Reuben & Gwen Wyatt, 2021. "Increased Use of Porch or Backyard Nature during COVID-19 Associated with Lower Stress and Better Symptom Experience among Breast Cancer Patients," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-13, August.
    3. Guillem Artigues & Sara Mateo & Maria Ramos & Elena Cabeza, 2020. "Validation of the Urban Walkability Perception Questionnaire (UWPQ) in the Balearic Islands," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-16, September.
    4. Michał Jaśkiewicz & Tomasz Besta, 2016. "Polish Version of the Neighbourhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS-Poland)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-14, November.
    5. Andrea Rebecchi & Maddalena Buffoli & Marco Dettori & Letizia Appolloni & Antonio Azara & Paolo Castiglia & Daniela D’Alessandro & Stefano Capolongo, 2019. "Walkable Environments and Healthy Urban Moves: Urban Context Features Assessment Framework Experienced in Milan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-18, May.
    6. Finlay, Jessica & Esposito, Michael & Langa, Kenneth M. & Judd, Suzanne & Clarke, Philippa, 2022. "Cognability: An Ecological Theory of neighborhoods and cognitive aging," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    7. Deepti Adlakha & J. Aaron Hipp & James F. Sallis & Ross C. Brownson, 2018. "Exploring Neighborhood Environments and Active Commuting in Chennai, India," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-15, August.
    8. Seonhye Lee & Eunmi Oh & Gwi-Ryung Son Hong, 2018. "Comparison of Factors Associated with Fear of Falling between Older Adults with and without a Fall History," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-12, May.
    9. Vanessa G. Macintyre & Sarah Cotterill & Jamie Anderson & Chris Phillipson & Jack S. Benton & David P. French, 2019. "“I Would Never Come Here Because I’ve Got My Own Garden”: Older Adults’ Perceptions of Small Urban Green Spaces," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-18, June.
    10. Razieh Zandieh & Javier Martinez & Johannes Flacke, 2019. "Older Adults’ Outdoor Walking and Inequalities in Neighbourhood Green Spaces Characteristics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-18, November.
    11. Alba Martínez-García & Eva María Trescastro-López & María Eugenia Galiana-Sánchez & Pamela Pereyra-Zamora, 2019. "Data Collection Instruments for Obesogenic Environments in Adults: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-27, April.
    12. Valkiria Amaya & Matthias Chardon & Helen Klein & Thibauld Moulaert & Nicolas Vuillerme, 2022. "What Do We Know about the Use of the Walk-along Method to Identify the Perceived Neighborhood Environment Correlates of Walking Activity in Healthy Older Adults: Methodological Considerations Related ," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-37, September.
    13. Liu, Zhengying & Kemperman, Astrid & Timmermans, Harry & Yang, Dongfeng, 2021. "Heterogeneity in physical activity participation of older adults: A latent class analysis," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    14. Tiina E. Laatikainen & Mohammad Haybatollahi & Marketta Kyttä, 2018. "Environmental, Individual and Personal Goal Influences on Older Adults’ Walking in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-19, December.
    15. Letizia Appolloni & Daniela D’Alessandro, 2023. "Neighborhoods’ Walkability for Elderly People: An Italian Experience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-22, December.
    16. Xavier Delclòs-Alió & Oriol Marquet & Guillem Vich & Jasper Schipperijn & Kai Zhang & Monika Maciejewska & Carme Miralles-Guasch, 2019. "Temperature and Rain Moderate the Effect of Neighborhood Walkability on Walking Time for Seniors in Barcelona," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-11, December.
    17. Ophelia Amo & Wisdom Akpalu & Daniel K. Twerefou & Godfred A. Bokpin, 2022. "Estimating the Economic Value of Health Walk on the Accra-Aburi Mountains Walkway in Ghana: An Individual Travel Cost Approach," International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), vol. 9(1), pages 75-85, January.
    18. Chunzhu Wei & Pablo Cabrera-Barona & Thomas Blaschke, 2016. "Local Geographic Variation of Public Services Inequality: Does the Neighborhood Scale Matter?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-20, October.
    19. Laura Pagani & Demetrio Panarello, 2022. "Evaluation of a program for promoting physical activity and well-being: Friuli Venezia Giulia in Movimento," METRON, Springer;Sapienza Università di Roma, vol. 80(1), pages 97-120, April.
    20. Kyunghwan Jung & Younglae Choi, 2023. "Factors Influencing Physical Activity and Exercise in Older Adults during COVID-19 in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-20, May.

    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:15:y:2023:i:18:p:13868-:d:1242423. 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.