Examining the Walkability of Planned Neighbourhood in Malaysia: Outcome of a Pilot Study

In Malaysia, urban development has produced many properly planned neighbourhoods. These areas are expected to provide walker-friendly environment. However, all evidences and observations show that urban people even in the planned areas still depend heavily on car in their movement. This raises the need to evaluate the walkabilty of the environment of planned neighbourhoods. As an initial effort, this paper summarises a pilot study carried out on two neighbourhoods in the city of Putrajay in Malaysia with the aim of contributing to building up a solid background on investigating the walkbility of planned neighbourhoods. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. Three stages of investigation have been adopted; field observation; questionnaire and interview. Rank analysis and rating analysis and other appropriate techniques were used to handle the collected data. The two neighbourhoods are found to have the most important motivators for their residents’ walking. The residents’ walking is however, still little. This raises the need for further investigation.