The Effect of Landscape Elements on Walkability in Egyptian Gated Communities

Walking has always been one of the important modes of transport all over the world. During the second half of the twentieth century, motorized modes, especially private cars, emerged. A situation of overdependence on motorized transport evolved. Recently, the notion of reviving walking as one of the urban transport modes started to emerge, especially in developed countries. Both research work and professional practice now search for ways to rehabilitate urban areas in order to facilitate walking and cycling. The focus has mainly been on macro-scale factors such as land use distribution and street network planning. However, landscape elements, such as micro-scale measures, could play an important role in achieving that goal. This paper addresses the role of landscape elements in enhancing urban walkability. It mainly focuses on gated communities, which are widely emerging types of residential urban areas across the world and also in Egypt. Using statistical analysis, the paper identifies the most important landscape elements that could affect the walkability of gated communities in Egypt.

Keywords:

Walkability; walking environment; landscape; hardscape; softscape; gated communities; accessibility; factor analysis; Egypt