Sustainability strategies have called for dense and accessible neighborhood designs to facilitate convenient access to desirable destinations for all, with a particular attention to transportation-disadvantaged populations such as older adults (aged 65 and older). However, few studies have examined and compared whether compact designs could help address the mobility needs of older people in automobile- and transit-oriented societies, even though aging populations are growing substantially. We analyze the travel and activity behaviors of older adults living in areas with completely different urban and transportation paradigms, the United States and Tokyo, Japan, based on the 2017 National Household Travel Survey and the 2018 Tokyo Person Trip Survey. After we account for the potential residential selection bias, we find that older people living in denser and more accessible environments in transit societies in Tokyo, Japan tended to conduct more active and transit tours but fewer automobile tours and shorter travel. Moreover, these older adults were more likely to be engaged in social, shopping, and recreational activities. For their counterparts in the U.S., built environments were found to have moderate impacts, but the possession of driver license and household vehicles showed greater explanatory power, which could be related to the country’s automobile-oriented culture. Our results suggest that dense and accessible neighborhood designs can enhance older people’s mobility with more out-of-home activities, but the influences of the macro-regional contexts and automobile-oriented culture should be cautiously taken into account.

中文翻译：

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两个老龄化国家的故事：城市设计如何影响汽车与交通社会中老年人的出行能力？


可持续发展战略要求密集且无障碍的社区设计，以促进所有人方便地前往理想的目的地，特别关注交通不便的人群，例如老年人（65 岁及以上）。然而，很少有研究检查和比较紧凑型设计是否有助于满足汽车和公共交通导向型社会中老年人的出行需求，即使老龄化人口正在大幅增长。我们根据 2017 年全国家庭旅行调查和 2018 年东京人旅行调查，分析了生活在城市和交通模式完全不同的地区的老年人的旅行和活动行为，即美国和日本东京。在我们考虑了潜在的居住选择偏差后，我们发现，在日本东京的交通社会中，生活在更密集、更无障碍环境中的老年人倾向于进行更积极的公交旅行，但汽车旅行更少，旅行时间更短。此外，这些老年人更有可能参与社交、购物和娱乐活动。对于美国的同行，建筑环境被发现具有中等影响，但拥有驾驶执照和家用车辆显示出更大的解释力，这可能与该国以汽车为导向的文化有关。我们的结果表明，密集且可达的社区设计可以通过更多的户外活动来提高老年人的流动性，但应谨慎考虑宏观区域背景和以汽车为导向的文化的影响。