The effect of neighborhood design on walkability perception: Düzce city center

In this study, the suitability of walking conditions for pedestrians is defined as walkability. The positive impact of walkability on the lives of urban area residents is frequently emphasised in the literature. Walkability perception, which refers to the sensation that people experience as they walk around urban areas, is evaluated in the literature under two different titles—subjective and objective. The purpose of this research is to determine the relationship between physical design and people's perceptions of neighbourhood scale. Within this thesis, the relevant national and international literature is reviewed, and factors related to walkability are grouped under two titles. Under socio-demographic variables, personal characteristics are emphasised, and under physical environment, access to open areas and green fields, mixed-land use degree, between-usage access, and liaison level are emphasised. For this research, the field of study was limited to 22 neighbourhoods which centre Avni Akyol Park and İnönü Park. To test the research hypotheses, both subjective and objective evaluations were carried out. For the subjective evaluation, interviews were conducted, while for the objective evaluation, content analysis, secondary data analysis, and spatial analysis were undertaken. For the spatial analysis work areas, the 1/1000 scale Düzce Implementary Development Plan was used, and the data layers were processed using the Geographic Information System 10.1 software. Within the spatial analysis, land usage types were identified using network analyses, and green-field access distance and duration were measured. To determine the access to green fields, Avni Akyol Park and İnönü Park, both of which are located in downtown Düzce, were the sites that were selected for the network analysis. To evaluate the objective and subjective data simultaneously while determining access duration and distance using spatial analysis, the verbal interview data were transferred to the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 22.0 software. Subsequently, an independent two sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, simple correlation analysis, and two-way ANOVA were conducted. The data that were obtained are provided in the findings section, after which conclusions are discussed and alternative solutions proposed. It was observed that perception of walkability differs according to perceptions of individuals living in urban areas, and the distance and duration of access to urban open and green areas were effective on the perceptions of individuals.