A decision support tool for a walkable integrated neighbourhood design using a multicriteria decision-making method

Abstract

Growing concern about transportation emissions and energy security has persuaded urban professionals and practitioners to pursue non-motorized urban development. They need an assessment tool to measure the association between the built environment and pedestrians' walking behaviour more accurately. This research has developed a new assessment tool called the Walkable Integrated Neighbourhood Design (WIND) support tool, which interprets the built environment's qualitative variables and pedestrians' perceptual qualities in relation to quantifiable variables. The WIND tool captures and forecasts pedestrians' mind mapping, as well as sequential decision-making during walking, and then analyses the path walkability through a decision-tree- making (DTM) algorithm on both the segment scale and the neighbourhood scale. The WIND tool measures walkability by variables clustered into five features, 11 criteria and 92 subcriteria. The mind-mapping analysis is presented in the form of a 'Walkability DTM-Mind-mapping sheet' for each destination and the overall neighbourhood. The WIND tool is applicable to any neighbourhood cases, although it was applied to the Taman Universiti neighbourhood in Malaysia. The tool's outputs aid urban designers to imply adaptability between the neighbourhood environment and residents' perceptions, preferences and needs.