An alternative perspective on the relationship between multiscale built environments and walking behavior: evidence from the government-subsidized resettlement towns in China

Disadvantaged population subgroups have been increasingly displaced to low-investment neighborhoods at the urban periphery, contributing to concerns about public health and inequality in healthy living environments. This study focuses on Chinese large-scale government-subsidized resettlement towns a...

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Main Authors: Jieqiong Wang, Jing Huang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-01-01
Series:Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13467581.2025.2455016
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author Jieqiong Wang
Jing Huang
author_facet Jieqiong Wang
Jing Huang
author_sort Jieqiong Wang
collection DOAJ
description Disadvantaged population subgroups have been increasingly displaced to low-investment neighborhoods at the urban periphery, contributing to concerns about public health and inequality in healthy living environments. This study focuses on Chinese large-scale government-subsidized resettlement towns and examines what significant neighborhood-level mesoscale and street-level microscale environmental factors are and to what extent they affect residents’ (n = 512) socio-environmental perceptions and walking behavior. Sociodemographic characteristics, socio-environmental perceptions, and walking behavior were measured in an online survey, followed by focus-group interviews. Built environment features were assessed from GIS data and audited by urban designers. Using Structural Equation Models (SEM), this study shows that neighborhood-level mesoscale built-environment factors are more associated with walking behavior than street-level microscale features. Moreover, socio-environmental perception plays a full mediating role in the association between objective built-environment factors and walking behavior but plays a partial role in the association between sociodemographic factors and walking behavior. Our findings indicate that neighborhood-level characteristics (housing type mix, morphology, and density) had greater influences on walking behavior in disadvantaged resettlement neighborhoods. To promote walking behavior in low-income communities, policy-makers and designers should also consider supporting older and wealthier relocated groups in mingling with the relatively young and low-income newcomers.
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spelling doaj-art-60f3774fec3d46a9a6655cdccccb293a2025-02-05T12:46:13ZengTaylor & Francis GroupJournal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering1347-28522025-01-010012310.1080/13467581.2025.24550162455016An alternative perspective on the relationship between multiscale built environments and walking behavior: evidence from the government-subsidized resettlement towns in ChinaJieqiong Wang0Jing Huang1Nanjing UniversityNanjing UniversityDisadvantaged population subgroups have been increasingly displaced to low-investment neighborhoods at the urban periphery, contributing to concerns about public health and inequality in healthy living environments. This study focuses on Chinese large-scale government-subsidized resettlement towns and examines what significant neighborhood-level mesoscale and street-level microscale environmental factors are and to what extent they affect residents’ (n = 512) socio-environmental perceptions and walking behavior. Sociodemographic characteristics, socio-environmental perceptions, and walking behavior were measured in an online survey, followed by focus-group interviews. Built environment features were assessed from GIS data and audited by urban designers. Using Structural Equation Models (SEM), this study shows that neighborhood-level mesoscale built-environment factors are more associated with walking behavior than street-level microscale features. Moreover, socio-environmental perception plays a full mediating role in the association between objective built-environment factors and walking behavior but plays a partial role in the association between sociodemographic factors and walking behavior. Our findings indicate that neighborhood-level characteristics (housing type mix, morphology, and density) had greater influences on walking behavior in disadvantaged resettlement neighborhoods. To promote walking behavior in low-income communities, policy-makers and designers should also consider supporting older and wealthier relocated groups in mingling with the relatively young and low-income newcomers.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13467581.2025.2455016chinese resettlement townsphysical activitymicroscale built environmentlow-income neighborhoodsurban design
spellingShingle Jieqiong Wang
Jing Huang
An alternative perspective on the relationship between multiscale built environments and walking behavior: evidence from the government-subsidized resettlement towns in China
Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering
chinese resettlement towns
physical activity
microscale built environment
low-income neighborhoods
urban design
title An alternative perspective on the relationship between multiscale built environments and walking behavior: evidence from the government-subsidized resettlement towns in China
title_full An alternative perspective on the relationship between multiscale built environments and walking behavior: evidence from the government-subsidized resettlement towns in China
title_fullStr An alternative perspective on the relationship between multiscale built environments and walking behavior: evidence from the government-subsidized resettlement towns in China
title_full_unstemmed An alternative perspective on the relationship between multiscale built environments and walking behavior: evidence from the government-subsidized resettlement towns in China
title_short An alternative perspective on the relationship between multiscale built environments and walking behavior: evidence from the government-subsidized resettlement towns in China
title_sort alternative perspective on the relationship between multiscale built environments and walking behavior evidence from the government subsidized resettlement towns in china
topic chinese resettlement towns
physical activity
microscale built environment
low-income neighborhoods
urban design
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13467581.2025.2455016
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