Can walking habits be encouraged through area-based regeneration and relocation? A longitudinal study of deprived communities in Glasgow, UK

This paper examines changes to the walkability of the built environment and associated changes in walking behaviour following area regeneration or relocation in Glasgow, UK. The aim is to contribute to longitudinal evidence of links between the built environment and walking behaviour. Most studies to date have been cross-sectional and the evidence they provide that changing the built environment will lead to changes in walking behaviour is weak. Our study examines how changes in neighbourhood walkability influence levels of walking in the local area. We use household survey data from deprived neighbourhoods in Glasgow undergoing housing-led and area regeneration at two time points, 2011 and 2015. Measures of walkability were calculated for each year as a product of intersection density (connectivity) and dwelling density and attached to survey data. Relationships between changes in walkability and repeated measures of walking frequency are examined. We compare changes in walking between those who move house compared with those who experience changes to the built environment in their existing home location. Those who relocate ('movers') are more likely to increase their frequency of walking in the neighbourhood, but this is not necessarily as a result of changes in the built environment as measured using walkability metrics. Prior walking habits are a strong influence, with those who walk at baseline being more likely to increase their walking later. Environmental improvements through renewal programmes are often of insufficient quality or extent to stimulate increased walking. It is likely that area regeneration needs to be combined with people-based and social interventions to produce 'behavioural spillovers' that encourage walking habits.