THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IMAGEABILITY QUALITY AND WALKING BEHAVIOR ON A HISTORIC COMMERCIAL STREET: LESSON FROM MALANG, INDONESIA

Walking is crucial for a sustainable and healthy life, but people's interest in walking, especially in Indonesia, still needs to grow. Previous research found that imageability is one of the urban design qualities that play a crucial role in facilitating interest in walking. Unfortunately, the role of imageability in this context has not been studied. Therefore, this research aims to fill the gap and explore the relationship between imageability and walking behavior in Kayutangan Street, Malang, Indonesia, a historic commercial area that has undergone renovation to accommodate pedestrian needs. This research employed a quantitative approach, applying a questionnaire survey method to 103 randomly selected participants on-site. Imageability quality was measured based on ten indicator variables obtained from previous research, including uniqueness, attractiveness, distinctiveness, recognizable quality, memorableness, unforgettable memory, impressiveness, legibility, pleasantness, and image quality, which was confirmed using factor analysis. The relationship between imageability quality and walking behavior was explored using regression analysis. The results show that imageability quality has a significant influence on the frequency of purposive walking (p < 0.01) but has no effect on discursive walking (p > 0.05). Furthermore, the results show that imageability has no significant impact on walking duration. However, a significant relationship exists between imageability and activity duration in the study area (p < 0.01). This research also found that memorableness is one of the imageability indicator variables that influence people's preference and interest in walking (p < 0.05).