Do New Cycling Facilities Improve Neighbourhood Livability?

Livable communities are a key focus for urban planners around the world, and transportation is arguably one of the most important factors that contribute to neighbourhood livability. The term ‘livability’ is subjective, and while there have been attempts to examine how walking and public transit may improve the livability of neighbourhoods and transit corridors, very few studies have focused on the role of bicycle infrastructure. My research begins to close this gap by 1) proposing a conceptualization of neighbourhood livability, as it relates to bicycle infrastructure, and 2) exploring the association between cycling facilities, specifically painted bicycle lanes and on-street cycle tracks, and perceived neighbourhood livability. Subjective perceptions of livability were captured through an online survey in 17 urban and suburban neighbourhoods within the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area with a recently built on-street cycling facility (case study sites) and six without (case-control sites). Factor analysis was conducted to create three meaningful factors representing perceptions of various aspects of neighbourhood livability and weighted multivariate linear regression models were estimated with each factor as a dependent variable. Results indicate an association between newly built cycling facilities and improved perception of neighbourhood livability, and support the policy emphasis on active transportation, particularly bicycle infrastructure, in creating better communities.