Objective–Perceived Walkability Gaps: Evidence from Safety and Aesthetic Indicators in Çanakkale City Center
RC21 2026 / Inequalities and the city. Old Issues, New Challenges. , Vienna, Avusturya, 20 - 22 Temmuz 2026, (Yayınlanmadı)
- Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Yayınlanmadı
- Basıldığı Şehir: Vienna
- Basıldığı Ülke: Avusturya
- Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Walkability assessments are typically based on either objective measurements or perceptual evaluations. Particularly at the city scale, walkability assessments tend to interpret subjective parameters through spatial indicators, considering the difficulties in collecting perceptual insights in a systematic and comprehensive manner. In recent years, the increasing availability of machine-learning-based street scores derived from street-view imagery has enabled studies to transfer people’s perceptions of safety and aesthetics to new contexts through trained datasets. Safety and aesthetics are widely recognized as two critical sub-indicators influencing walking behaviour; while safety affects all types of walking, aesthetics plays a more pronounced role in route selection, particularly in recreational and social walking.
Accordingly, the main objective of this study is to examine the differences between objective safety and aesthetic indicators and perceptual assessments, and to identify the spatial contexts in which these differences emerge. The study calculates both objective and perceptual street-based scores for safety and aesthetics across seven neighbourhoods in Çanakkale City Center (Turkey). Objective scores were generated at the street level within a GIS environment using spatial indicators related to safety (street lighting conditions, visibility, ground-floor land use, presence of abandoned buildings, and traffic safety features) and aesthetics (sea view, historic streetscape characteristics, presence of landmarks, and greenery ratio), based on data obtained from Çanakkale Municipality. Normalized sub-indicator values were aggregated to construct objective safety and aesthetic scores.
Perceived street scores were estimated using the MIT Place Pulse 2.0 database as a training source. Perceptual scoring was conducted at the street level by averaging the results derived from two representative street-view images per street. A comparison of objective and perceptual scores reveals spatial variations in the objective–perceived walkability gap. Preliminary findings suggest that objective scoring represent perceived walkability only to a limited extent, with notable discrepancies emerging in specific spatial and morphological contexts.