Title	Understanding the relationship between a walkable environment and elderly’s sense of community in Hong Kong
Authors	Lai, Ka Yan
Advisors	Kong, Yeung William
Degree	Undergraduate
Issue Date	2017
Absctract	This research aims at (1) comparing the relations of walkability attributes and elderly’s Sense of Community (SofC) between two constituencies in Hong Kong, and (2) comparing the impacts of objective walkability and perceived walkability attributes on elderly’s SofC in two constituencies. In the constituency with higher perceived walkability, Accessibility and Walking Facilities were positively correlated with SofC at significant level. Walking Barriers were also positively correlated with elderly’s SofC, which suggested that hillsides and stairs increased elderly’s SofC, though it was out of significant level. In the constituency with higher Objective Walkability, Land-use mix, Commercial land use ratio and Connectivity were negatively correlated with SofC. Congestion was also higher in this constituency, which was consistent with the result of Objective Walkability. Comparing the impacts of socio-demographic data, perceived walkability and objective walkability attributes on SofC, objective walkability attributes were not important in explaining SofC in both constituencies. Socio-demographic data had limited influence on SofC, that elderly who were not born in Hong Kong and not living alone had a higher SofC level. The research can help provide officials and urban planners with some insights to pay more attention to the perception of the elderly, instead of simply following the objective standard of a so called “walkable environment”.
Subjects	Older people -- China -- Hong Kong Walking -- China -- Hong Kong Community life
Publisher	Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Rights	All rights reserved.