Residential relocation, neighborhood walkability, and changes in walking activities in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area: a cross-sectional study

Neighborhood walkability is an established determinant of physical activity, yet its association with walking following residential relocation remains underexplored in densely populated East Asian metropolitan areas. This study examined associations among residential relocation, neighborhood walkability, and walking activities in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. We analyzed cross-sectional survey data from 6175 residents, comprising movers who had relocated within the past 5 years (n = 2671) and non-movers (n = 3504). Walking for commuting, errand, and leisure was self-reported, and neighborhood walkability was assessed using the Japan Postcode Level Walkability Index. Hurdle models estimated associations with reported walking time, whereas multinomial logistic regression models assessed perceived changes in walking. Among the movers, perceived changes were not one-directional; relocation was associated with both increased and decreased walking. Movers from high- to low-walkability areas were more likely to report increased commuting-related walking, although this finding was less stable across COVID-period strata because of the small pre-pandemic subgroup. Commute and errand walking were more consistently associated with relocation, whereas leisure walking showed weaker associations. These findings may differ from those reported in car-oriented Western contexts and highlight the importance of metropolitan transport context when interpreting associations between walkability, relocation, and walking.