A New Approach on the Determination of the Spatial Criteria and Parameters Affecting Walking Comfort: Selçuk University Example

Abstract

Physical inactivity and the diseases such as obesity are the results of increasing environmental pollution caused by developing technology, are shown as the main problems reducing the quality of life today. Succeed in the studies conducted on the topic of active transportation is directly related to the mentioned problems, which is very important in terms of reducing the negative effects. Although different methods are used in the relevant literature, a significant number of parameters are commonly evaluated in many studies. It is seen that these parameters are used in different study areas and there are inconsistencies between the results. Some control studies are needed to reveal the factors that cause inconsistent results. At this point, instead of using a standard set of parameters in various study areas, it would be useful to create a new set of specific parameters based on the characteristics of the related study area. This study aims to determine the spatial parameters affecting walking comfort in a specific study area (Selcuk University) together with the significance levels and to develop a new approach that can be adapted to different study areas based on this example area. In the study, both objective and subjective measurement methods were used to evaluate the potential inconsistency between the obtained results. In 17 of 30 parameters evaluated within the scope of the study, the coefficient determined by the users was higher than that of the experts. Based on the data that more than half of the variables according to users are more important than those indicated by the experts, it was concluded that the standards and criteria were not fully accepted by the users.