Using expert decision-making to establish indicators of urban friendliness for walking environments: a multidisciplinary assessment

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have suggested that friendly walking environments positively affect physical activity and health. Creating friendly walking environments in urban areas is a complex and wide-ranging topic, and no study has yet established a set of assessment indicators by drawing on the expertise of various disciplines. This study uses a multiple-criteria decision-making technique to elucidate the environmental factors that affect the friendliness of the walking environment. METHODS: We conducted a two-phase expert questionnaire survey. Experts from the government sector, as well as the academic disciplines of urban planning, transportation, architecture, and landscape design, were recruited to establish a set of walking environment indicators; the degrees of importance assigned to these indicators by the experts were subsequently compared. In phase 1, the fuzzy Delphi method was used by 20 experts, whose responses were used to identify four dimensions and 22 indicators. In phase 2, an analytical network process approach was performed by 16 experts to determine the weights of the dimensions and indicators. RESULTS: The results revealed that all of the experts ranked the four dimensions in the order of safety > facilities > aesthetics > land use mix. Of the 22 indicators, land use–diversity, land use–access, sidewalk width, sidewalk continuity, and cleanliness were considered the most important. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide a reference for the management of walking environments by promoting pedestrian-oriented environments and public health. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12942-016-0071-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.