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Developing and testing a street audit tool using Google Street View to measure environmental supportiveness for
Pippa Griew1, Melvyn Hillsdon, Charlie Foster
1Sport and Health Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
Summary
A new Google Street View audit tool reliably measures neighborhood street characteristics. This efficient method allows for large-scale objective data collection, supporting walking for physical activity.
Area of Science:
- Urban planning and public health research.
- Geospatial analysis and environmental auditing.
Background:
- Walking offers significant health benefits for adults.
- Neighborhood environments, including street characteristics, influence walking behaviors.
- Objective assessment of street-level data presents challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the reliability of a novel street characteristic audit tool utilizing Google Street View.
- To assess agreement between computer-based (Google Street View) and on-site street audits.
Main Methods:
- Development of the Forty Area STudy street VIEW (FASTVIEW) tool with nine street characteristic categories.
- Desk-based audits using FASTVIEW by trained researchers in a UK town.
- Assessment of inter- and intra-rater reliability and criterion validity through on-site audits.
Main Results:
- High within-rater agreement (66.7%-90.0%) and good to high between-rater agreement (51.3%-89.1%).
- High agreement (75.0%-96.7%) between Google Street View audits and in-person audits across nine categories.
Conclusions:
- The FASTVIEW tool is a reliable and valid method for assessing street characteristics.
- Google Street View offers an efficient approach for large-scale objective street data collection.
- This method can enhance research on walking behaviors and neighborhood environments.
