JAILCD2025-015: Does Urbanization Make Walking Easier? Influencing Mechanisms on Pedestrians in Different Urbanization

Abstract

The urbanization process plays a crucial role in shaping human walking behavior and has profound implications for urban vitality, health, and environmental sustainability. However, existing studies primarily focus on individual walking behaviors and pay insufficient attention to the core indicator of pedestrian density, which directly reflects the vitality of public spaces and social interactions. Especially in underdeveloped and moderately developed regions, pedestrian density and its influencing mechanisms in different urbanization levels have not been fully studied. To fill this research gap, this study used the ordinary least squares model to systematically explore the correlation between socio-demographic and built environment factors on pedestrian density. Our study has identified different demands for pedestrian environment optimization at various stages of urbanization development. Based on this, this study suggests that urban planners and policymakers should start from the specific urbanization background of a region and optimize the key factors that affect pedestrian density in a cost-effective way to promote the improvement of street walking behavior and public space vitality.