A Case Study of Walkability and Neighborhood Attachment

Abstract

The neighborhood attachment provides psychological benefits and has positive behavioral consequences for residents and communities Much of the literature examines the impacts of individual and social indicators as predictors of place attachment This research paper concentrates on the place dimension of this bond examining influences of the built environment in the context of perceived walkability on neighborhood attachment and determining which variables of neighborhood walkability have the most significant impact on promoting neighborhood attachment Moreover the effects of neighborhood walkability variables on three main dimensions of neighborhood attachment namely emotional functional and behavioral are compared In this study we draw a random sample of 348 Ekbatan residents aged 15 and above by using the stratified sampling method and a multidimensional scale is adopted to measure neighborhood attachment and walkability The findings confirm that respondents assign high or very high ranks to both variables