Exploring Pedestrian Satisfaction and Environmental Consciousness in a Railway-Regenerated Linear Park

Abstract

This study employs Hannah Arendt's (1958) the human condition as a philosophical framework to examine walking not merely as a physical activity but as a meaningful form of environmental consciousness. Homo faber, which denotes tool making, corresponds to the nature-based railway regeneration exemplified by the Gyeongui Line Forest Park in Seoul City, South Korea. By applying walking as a method, bifurcated themes are explored: a pedestrian-provision focus on walkability and an environmentally oriented focus consisting of nature and culture, supporting the notion that environmental elements are co-experienced through the embodied activity of walking. Thematic findings are supported by generalized additive models, grounded in a between-method triangulation attempt. The results confirm the interdependencies among the park's environment, pedestrian satisfaction, and environmental consciousness. Specifically, the environment surrounding the park, which traverses natural and cultural elements, is strongly associated with both pedestrian satisfaction and environmental sensitivity. The research reifies walking as a fundamental human condition, encompassing labor, work, and action, while arguing for heuristic reciprocity between homo faber and nature, as well as framing walking as a sustainably meaningful urban intervention. This study contributes to maturing the theoretical understanding of walking as a vital human condition and suggests practical insights for pedestrian-centered spatial transformation.