No abstract

Nowadays, the increasing population aging and geriatric health problems have led many scholars to explore the issues of walkability, safety and comfort of walking environment for the old. However, a complete elderly-friendly walking system has not yet been constructed and extended for application. In this paper, considering the travel range and walking characteristics of the elderly, an old community in Beijing's Jiangtai area was selected as a case site. By GIS analysis, field survey and spatial environment notation, our study established a comprehensive evaluation framework in two parts: using walk score to identify the problem, and walking environment evaluation system to identify the influencing factors for elderly mobility. The results indicated that: the walk score differs greatly from north to south of the community, especially in the vegetable market, senior centers and pharmacies; the traffic flow and the pedestrian path patency influence the elderly's choice of walking sections; the density and quality of rest facilities affect the elderly's walking experience. This system can be applied to the analysis of walkability and walking environment in old communities in order to implement more effective improvement measures for sustainable development of old communities.