Space Syntax and Walking in a New Urbanist and Suburban Neighbourhoods

Prevailing measures of street design have largely ignored the relational properties between local and global street design as correlates of walking behaviour. This study contributes to understanding relationships between the syntactical properties of street design and walking behaviour by examining whether space syntax measures in New Urbanist and conventional suburban neighbourhoods are associated with the walking patterns of residents in these communities. Relying on geographic information systems, survey data and travel diaries, the study relates control, local integration and global integration to walking behaviour, while adjusting for the effect of individual- and household-level characteristics. It finds significant relationships between the number of leisure trips and all three syntactical measures. It also finds a consistent positive relationship between total utilitarian walking and two of the space syntax variables, control and global integration. By explaining individuals' walking behaviour using relational measures of street design, urban designers and planners are encouraged to expand their consideration of how street design may influence walking beyond the local purview.