Investigating the influence of land use mix and built environment elements on travel time perception and subjective wellbeing

ABSTRACT Perceived travel time plays an important role in the subjective wellbeing of the commuters. Recent studies have focused on the relationship between spatial characteristics and wellbeing, and the relationship between transportation and mobility with subjective wellbeing of the people. However, few studies tackled the influence of the urban form and the elements of built environment on wellbeing during commuting in the city. This manuscript discusses the concept of urban form, and perceptual qualities of urban design. Afterwards, it proceeds with delineating the research variables (i.e., Spatial and Perceptual). The case study selected is South 90 Street, New Cairo, Egypt, which serves as an urban corridor that accommodates various transit modes, diverse land uses, and variety of urban facades. The analysis is carried out utilizing the built environment dataset and collected responses about users’ experience via a questionnaire. This manuscript attempts to answer two main questions: (1) What is the influence of urban form on commuters’ travel time perception? (2) How do the elements of the built environment impact the subjective wellbeing of commuters? Descriptive analysis is conducted to understand the relationship and influence of the built environment on the perceived travel time during mobility and individuals’ wellbeing. The manuscript further discusses the results, depicting which built environment elements are associated with either positive or negative effect on commuters’ subjective wellbeing. The manuscript concludes with highlighting the potentials for maintaining the overall wellbeing of individuals and their perception during urban mobility. Thus, facilitating the design of functional, efficient, and reliable cities.