Assessing a walkable environment in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract

There is currently a wide discussion on promoting a walkable environment and improving walkability especially in city centre. Walking in the city is meant to solve numerous problems ranging from the city vibrancy, traffic congestion, environmental injustice, social isolation to the human health issues related to obesity crisis. This paper aims to examine the walkable environment of Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman as one of the busiest pedestrian urban places in the city centre of Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. It investigates the pedestrians' perception on their walking experience based on the walkable environment elements i.e. comfort, safety and levels of enjoyment. A participant observation and questionnaire survey technique were employed whereby the former involved with the researchers general physical evaluation of the site and the latter engaged a random sample of 120 pedestrians of Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman for a paper-based on street questionnaire survey. The findings suggested that the majority of the respondents were satisfied with the existing conditions of comfort and safety and hence, regarded Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman as a walkable area. However, their level of enjoyment was generally minimal suggesting that there are rooms for further improvement in the pedestrian area to create a better and more conducive walkable environment.