The Impact of Accessibility on Walkability to Enhance Social Interaction in Mixed-Use Streets

The design and quality of urban streets significantly influence accessibility, determining how easily pedestrians—particularly those with mobility challenges—can reach essential services, amenities, and social opportunities. While prior studies have established accessibility as a key factor in promoting walking, the relative importance of specific accessibility indicators remains unclear. There is also uncertainty about how much each of these factors actually influences people’s decisions to walk. Improving these accessibility factors not only makes walking easier but also enhances social interactions, as walkable streets encourage people to meet, engage, and spend time in public spaces. This study addresses the question: What are the most important accessibility indicators of walkability that influence social interaction in mixed-use streets? Identifying the main accessibility factors of walkability that affect social interaction in mixed-use streets is the objective of this paper. The aim of the study is to design a walkability model that explains how accessibility influences social interactions in mixed-use streets. The study distributed 400 Likert-scale questionnaires (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). It used SPSS (for statistical analysis) and Smart PLS (for structural equation modeling) to process and design the model. The analysis revealed strong model fit (GoF=0.69), emphasizing that perceived accessibility of walkability plays a crucial role in shaping social interaction. The study concluded that the indicators contributing to ease of walking such as street configuration, obstruction-free, sidewalk levels and condition, curb ramps, crosswalks, signage at night were among the most influential in making the street environment more encouraging for pedestrians.