Asymmetric Relationships Between Attribute Performance and Pedestrian Satisfaction Among Older Adults: Implications for Age-Friendly Walkability

Abstract

Creating a supportive walking environment for older adults has emerged as an urgent priority for policymaking and urban planning. Nevertheless, existing research remains limited in systematically investigating older adults’ perceptions of the walking environment. This study collected 1,012 valid questionnaires in Chengdu, China, to examine the asymmetric relationship between the performance of 15 walking environment attributes and older pedestrians’ overall satisfaction. Grounded in the three-factor theory, a series of dummy-variable regression models was applied to identify the factor structure of walking environment attributes across different community types, based on which improvement priorities for age-friendly walkability were derived. The results reveal that access to living services represents a basic factor in the full sample as well as in both new and old communities. For new communities, priority should be given to improving seat availability and access to leisure facilities, whereas for old communities, emphasis should be placed on enhancing seat availability and walkway smoothness. By translating these empirical findings into targeted environmental interventions, this study provides actionable insights for improving pedestrian satisfaction among older adults and supporting the development of more inclusive, age-friendly communities.