The Influence of Campus Built Environment Characteristics on Walking Behavior Among College Students

College students' sedentary and inactive lifestyles often lead to health issues like obesity and depression. The campus-built environment is crucial for encouraging college students' walking behavior, directly impacting their physical and mental health. However, it is unclear to what extent the campus-built environment characteristics contribute to college students' walking behavior. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the influence of campus-built environment characteristics on college students' walking behaviour. Utilizing the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS) and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), this study collected data from 687 students at two universities in China through a questionnaire survey and analysed the data using multiple regression techniques. The results show that land use diversity, accessibility, and infrastructure significantly influence walking behavior, totally explaining 26.3% of the variance. These findings highlight the importance of a walkable campus environment in promoting college students' walking behaviour, which is beneficial to their physical and mental health. Consequently, this study provides empirical evidence on specific built environment characteristics that encourage walking, serving as a valuable resource for future campus planning and health-promotion policy development.