The Influence of Built Environment on Walkability Using Geographic Information System

The main goal of this study was to analyze the residential environment (built environment), by exploring the relationship between neighborhood walkability characteristics using Geographic Information System (GIS) and level of physical activity (PA). A randomly selected sample of 135 adults from Olomouc, Czech Republic was divided into low and high walkability neighborhoods based on the walkability index (calculated using GIS). The average daily number of steps (using Yamax SW-700 pedometer) between the groups also was measured. Result showed that participants living in the high walkable areas took more steps a day than participant in the low walkable areas. Furthermore, the mean body mass index (BMI) level was inversely correlated with the number of steps on weekdays and during the whole week. On weekend days it was still inversed throughout with the number of steps; taken but the but the relationship was not statistically significant.