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The association between street layout (connectivity andintegration) and social interaction in older Japanese
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Street layout, namely, connectivity and integration, indicates neighborhood walkability and is reported
to be associated with health. However, the relationship between street layout and social interaction—
which is a determinant of health—needs further investigation. This study examines the relationshipbetween street layout and older people’s social interaction with their neighbors. We analyzed datafrom the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) that encompasses 17 municipalities with
40,677 independent participants aged ≥65 years in Japan. We measured the change in participants’social interaction with neighbors between 2013 and 2016. Two street layout indexes—connectivity
and integration—were calculated using space syntax analysis. Poisson regression analysis was
performed to calculate the incidence rate ratio (IRR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for a decreasein social interaction with neighbors after three years. All analyses were stratified by two age groups:
young–old (<75) and old–old (≥75). In the old–old group, we observed that, compared with thoseliving in low-connectivity and low integration areas, the decrease in social interaction after three years
was 25% and 24% lower among participants living in areas with high street connectivity and highstreet integration, respectively. We found that well-designed street layout was associated with lessdecline in social interaction among old–old people in Japan. This research provides evidence
supporting healthy community design.

The association between street layout (connectivity and intergration) and social interaction in older
Japanese adults1Proceedings of the 13th Space Syntax Symposium()*+,%-#'
Street layout, sense of community, neighborhood environment, Japan'.

/0$%,-1&$/,0'!0-'2/$$)%!$1%)'%)3/)+'Social interaction with neighbors has a positive impact on health among older people. For example,
participants who spent more time interacting with others reported being more satisfied with their lives
than those who spent less time doing so (Nezlek et al., 2002). Moreover, Nezlek et al. (2002) foundthat older people with a higher level of enjoyment and intimacy interaction show greater
psychological well-being. Different sources of interaction—such as spouses, children, friends, andneighbors that older people are close to—are essential and discussed in the previous study(Okabayashi et al., 2004; Venkatraman, 1995; Nezlek et al., 2002). A previous study reported thatolder Japanese people who receive social support—including opportunities to share and talk about
their worries or problems—from their spouses instead of their children or others enjoy a greater
degree of well-being (Okabayashi et al., 2004). The same results were also found in America andIndia (Venkatraman, 1995; Nezlek et al., 2002). However, in an aging society, the number of bereaved
people is increasing rapidly; additionally, the co-residence rate with children is declining among older
Japanese (Cabinet Office, 2017; Statistics Bureau, 2015), which may influence the frequency of social
interaction with spouses and children. Concerning the sources that older people interact with, previous
studies reported that neighbors are considered one of the preferred sources of assistance, following
spouse and children (Antonucci, 2001; Okabayashi et al., 2004). Thus, social interaction withneighbors is essential in the well-being of the older people in Japan.
Maintaining social interaction among older people, particularly those older than 75 years, is essential.
The decline in physical ability and the frequency of going out seen with increasing age has beenreported by previous studies (Fujita et al., 2004; Sun, Norman and While, 2013). Additionally,
according to a Berlin aging study, the reduction of participation in activities such as hobbies,
traveling, and sports has been reported among older people (Bukov, Maas, and Lampert, 2002).
Bukov et al. (2002) described it as social “dying,” as they found that after the age of 90, more than
30% of the participants’ social participation decreased. Thus, it is important to research maintaining
social interaction among older people, particularly in those older than 75 years.
A literature review reported that neighborhood walkability design had been the environmental factor
that positively affected social interaction with neighbors (Talen and Koschinsky, 2014). For example,
an Australian study revealed that more walkable neighborhoods encourage adults to wave or chat overthe fence with others (Toit du et al., 2007). According to an American study, sense of community
measured by neighboring behaviors—including talking and exchanging favors with neighbors—ispositively associated with a higher commercial building floor area ratio (the total land area devoted tocommercial uses within a 1 km network buffer) (Wood, Frank, and Giles-Corti, 2010). Wood et al.
(2010) discussed that different destinations, such as a local corner store, may enhance social

The association between street layout (connectivity and intergration) and social interaction in older
Japanese adults2

Proceedings of the 13th Space Syntax Symposium

connections more than others. Moreover, Enssle and Kabisch (2020) reported that older Germans who
visit urban green spaces daily were significantly more likely to meet neighbors regularly and to makefriends in the neighborhood. Among walkability indexes, street layout is directly planned and can becontrolled by urban planners. Street layout has been reported to be associated with pedestrian
movement (Sharmin and Kamruzzaman, 2018) and health outcomes such as physical activity,
cognitive function, and depression (Wineman et al., 2014; Koohsari et al., 2019; Lam, Loo, andMahendran, 2020). Regarding social interaction with neighbors, a Japanese study reported that street
connectivity and space syntax walkability, measured by street integration and population density, aresignificantly and negatively associated with social interaction with neighbors (Koohsari et al., 2021).
Contrarily, Wood et al. (2010) reported that street connectivity did not predict a sense of community.
These previous studies had some limitations. First, such studies commonly highlight the disadvantageof cross-sectional study designs, as they do not establish causal relationships, and the change in social
interaction with increasing age remained unknown. Second, there was a small sample size of around
1,000 participants and a limited representation of the target population and study area (Wood, Frank,
and Giles-Corti, 2010; Koohsari et al., 2021). As reported by previous studies, the association between
street layout and social interaction with neighbors among older adults remains debatable and needs
further research.
Consequently, our study aimed to illustrate whether a better street layout—connectivity andintegration—can suppress the decrease in social interaction with neighbors observed with advancing
age. Based on large-scale longitudinal data, we used space syntax to measure street layout and to
examine its association with social interaction with neighbors among older Japanese people (young–
old and old–old).
Clarifying this issue is essential because, through street layout, understanding where an area yields orlimits the communications between people may inform urban design.

4-!$!#)$#'!0-'5)$6,-#'

We analyzed data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES), which was initiated in
1999 to obtain scientific findings through population-based epidemiological research. JAGES has
been conducting surveys of older people every three years since 2010 and focuses on the social
determinants of health and the social/built environment (Kondo and Rosenberg, 2018).
Our study areas and participants encompass 17 municipalities, with 40,677 adults aged ≥65 years inJapan. In selecting participating respondents, we excluded the respondents who needed assistance withdaily living activities; where data on age were missing; whose age difference between baseline andthree years later did not fall within the range of 2–4 years; who had missing data on years of

The association between street layout (connectivity and intergration) and social interaction in older
Japanese adults3Proceedings of the 13th Space Syntax Symposium

residence; who lived in the same place for less than three years; and who had missing scores from theoutcome variable “social interaction with neighbors” in 2013 and 2016 (Fig. 1).
Based on the questionnaire that participants responded to in 2013 and 2016, we measured the change
in social interaction with neighbors (decrease or no decrease) as the outcome variable. The question
presented was “What kind of interactions do you have with people in your neighborhood?” and thefour response choices were as follows:1.

Mutual consultation, lending and borrowing daily commodities, and cooperation in daily
life

2.

Daily chatting

3.

No more than exchanging greetings

4.

None, not even greetings

We subtracted the value reflecting the level of social interaction with neighbors in 2013 from thevalue in 2016. Then, we categorized the subtraction into two groups: decrease and no decrease.
We applied explanatory variables as two street layout indexes—connectivity and integration—both
divided into tertiles (low, moderate, high). Street connectivity and integration have been used inpublic health to investigate the relationships between street layout and health problems (Watts et al.,2015; Koohsari et al., 2019; Nichani, Koohsari, and Mccormack, 2021). Connectivity measures thenumber of spaces (paths, streets, homes, etc.) immediately connecting the space of origin (Watts et al.,2015; Hillier & Hanson, 1984). Integration refers to how a street is connected to other streets within
the network by calculating how many turns there are from the original space (paths, streets, homes,etc.) to all other spaces (Watts et al., 2015; Hillier & Hanson, 1984).
We used space syntax to calculate each index value within 800 meters around the participants’residence (chocho-aza point data: the smallest administrative unit used for the 1995 population census
of Japan, roughly comparable to a European parish or a US block group) (Nakaya et al., 2014). Since
we could not use the participants’ actual residential addresses, we used the latitude and longitude of arepresentative point in the participant’s residence, which had been identified through geocoding to thesmallest administrative unit. To calculate connectivity and integration, first, we used the street
network data in 2013 from Zenrin Co. Ltd and simplified the data in ArcGIS version 10.3.1(Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, CA, USA). Second, we imported the adjusted
data into depthmapX software (settings: spatial model = segment, tulip bin = 1024, radius type = R800
metric) (University College London, n.d.), where the values for each street segment were calculated
on space syntax theory (Turner, 2001; Marcus, 2003). Third, we assigned values to each street
segment using QGIS version 3.8 (QGIS, 2019) to calculate each mean value of street connectivity andstreet integration within 800 meters of the center of each participant’s residence (Figs. 2, 3A, 3B). We
set 800 meters as the buffer to be consistent with previous research findings of a correlation between
older people’s behavior and environmental outcomes (Hess and Russell, 2012).

The association between street layout (connectivity and intergration) and social interaction in older
Japanese adults4Proceedings of the 13th Space Syntax Symposium

Covariates included sex (male or female), equivalent annual household income (<2, 2–3.99, or ≥4
million yen or data missing), educational attainment (≤9 or ≥10 years or data missing), marital status(married, widowed, divorced, never married, or data missing), living status (living alone, living withothers, or data missing), driving status (car user, including receiving rides from others, or not a caruser), frequency of going out (none/rarely, weekly, daily, or data missing), daily walking time (<30,
30–59, or ≥60 minutes or data missing), depressed or nondepressed measured by 15-item GeriatricDepression Scale (short form; GDS-15) (Yesavage & Sheikh, 1986), sidewalk coverage (≤8.0%,
8.1%–14.2%, or >14.2% sidewalk area within neighborhood unit/area of entire road within aneighborhood unit or data missing), and population density by tertile (<3,308.5, 3,308.5–9,088.6, or>9,088.6 people/km2 school district). Time living in the neighborhood is considered to affect social
interaction, so we included years of residence in 2016 (<10, 10–19, 20–29, 30–39, 40–49, or ≥50
years) in our model (Zuniga-Teran et al., 2017). Besides years of residence, all the covariates wereassessed by questionnaire in the baseline survey (Saarloos et al., 2011; Nishida, Hanazato, and Koga,
2021). We categorized the covariates with missing data as “missing,” and our analysis included
participants with missing data in each covariate.
Poisson regression analysis was performed to calculate the incidence rate ratio (IRR) and 95%
confidence interval (CI) of a decrease in social interaction with neighbors after three years. Twostratified age groups were used for all analyses—young–old (<75 years) and old–old (≥ 75 years)—
because it was assumed that functional ability and intrinsic capacity declined more in the old–old. We
also conducted the sensitivity analysis stratified by urban and rural areas to check for differences
between various population densities.

Responded to a questionnaire in 2013 and 2016, with residence information(chocho-aza data) in 2013 (n = 49,291)
Exclusion criteria【Age】【Activities of daily living (ADL)】① 2013, 2016: Invalid age (n = 98)② 2013, 2016: Age difference does not fall within the range of 2–4 years(n = 2141)③ 2013: ADL impairments (n = 877)
④ 2013: Invalid ADL (n = 2014)【Residential years】⑤ 2016: Lived in the same place for less than three years (n = 1047)⑥ 2016: Invalid years of residence (n = 957)
【Outcome variable： social interaction with neighbors】⑦ 2013, 2016: Invalid outcome variable (n = 1408)

Total number of participants analyzed (n = 40,677)
Male (n = 18,417), female (n = 22,260)
Average age (72.9 ± 5.6 years)
Fig. 1. Flowchart of participants in the study.

The association between street layout (connectivity and intergration) and social interaction in older
Japanese adults5Proceedings of the 13th Space Syntax Symposium

Chocho-aza point data
800-meter radiusFigure 2: Representative point of residence information (chocho-aza point data)
and 800-meter buffer.

Connectivity (R800)
High connectivity value

Low connectivity value

Figure 3A: A visual display of neighborhood street connectivity, calculated using
space syntax analysis and color-coded (distribution setting: natural breaks (Jenks)) in QGIS.

Integration (R800)
High integration value

Figure 3B: A visual display of neighborhood street integration, calculated using space

Low integration value

syntax analysis and color-coded (distribution setting: natural breaks (Jenks)) in QGIS.

The association between street layout (connectivity and intergration) and social interaction in older
Japanese adults

6Proceedings of the 13th Space Syntax Symposium

7%)#12$#'

Among the 40,677 older adult participants, 15.1% (n = 6139) had decreased social interaction
with neighbors at the three-year follow-up period, of whom 50.9% (n = 3122) were women.
Moreover, among old–old, the participants in the decrease group outnumbered those in the groupwith no decrease (Table 1).
Table 2 presents the results of Poisson regression analysis for the study participants’characteristics and demonstrates the association between a decrease in social interaction andspace layout after three years. We observed that decreased social interaction is negatively
associated with street connectivity and street integration among old–old. As shown in model 1,
compared with those living in low-connectivity areas, the decrease in social interaction after
three years is 15% and 25% lower among participants living in areas with moderate (IRR = 0.85,
95% CI = 0.76–0.95) and high (IRR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.65–0.87) street connectivity,
respectively.
In model 2, social interaction decreased by 15% among participants living in areas with low
integration, compared with moderate (IRR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.76–0.95) street integration; andsocial interaction decreased by 24% among participants living in areas with low integration,compared with high (IRR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.66–0.87) street integration.
The results for sensitivity analysis stratified by urban and rural area showed that point estimatesof decrease in social interaction remained suppressed in the same direction among both young–
old and old–old living in the rural areas with high-connectivity and high-integration (Table 3).

The association between street layout (connectivity and intergration) and social interaction in older
Japanese adults

7

Proceedings of the 13th Space Syntax Symposium

Table 1: Study participant characteristics divided by change in social interaction with neighbors (n = 40,677).

Characteristics(total numbers)

Change in social interaction with neighbors
No decrease
Decrease
No.
%
No.
%

χ2
p-Value

15,40019,138

83.6
86.0

3,017
3,122

16.4
14.0

<0.001

10,878
11,590
7,367
3,519
1,184

85.9
85.3
84.2
83.3
80.9

1,779
1,995
1,378
707
280

14.1
14.7
15.8
16.7
19.1

<0.001

13,704
20,407
427

84.0
85.6
82.1

2,609
3,437
93

16.0
14.4
17.9

<0.001

13,897
11,650
3,464
5,527

84.0
85.9
86.7
84.1

2,645
1,917
530
1,047

16.0
14.1
13.3
15.9

<0.001

25,419
6,565
1,041
760
753

85.1
84.4
83.9
85.5
82.1

4,435
1,211
200
129
164

14.9
15.6
16.1
14.5
17.9

0.049

28,857

85.2

5,020

14.8

3,857
1,824

84.1
82.4

729
390

15.9
17.6

7,330
27,208

84.6
84.4
84.9
85.8
84.8
84.8

1,309
4,830

15.4
15.6
15.1
14.2
15.2
15.2

Sex
Male (n = 18,417)
Female (n = 22,260)
Age group, years
65–69 (n = 12,657)
70–74 (n = 13,585)
75–79 (n = 8,745)
80–84 (n = 4,226)≥85 (n = 1,464)
Education level, years≤9 (n = 16,313)≥10 (n = 23,844)
Missing (n = 520)
Equivalent householdincome, million yen
Low (≤199) (n = 16,542)
Mid (200–399) (n = 13,567)
High (≥400) (n = 3,994)
Missing (n = 6,574)
Marital status
Married (n = 29,854)
Widowed (n = 7,776)
Divorced (n = 1,241)
Never married (n = 889)
Others/missing (n = 917)
Living situation
Living with others(n = 33,877)
Living alone (n = 4,586)
Missing (n = 2,214)
Driving status
Not a car user (n = 8,639)
Car user (n = 32,038)
Outgoing frequency
None/rarely (n = 901)
Weekly (n = 7,936)
Daily (n = 31,395)
Missing (n = 445)
Daily Walking time, minutes<60 (n = 23,157)≥60 (n = 16,905)
Missing (n = 615)
Years of residence<10 (n = 1,711)
10–19 (n = 3,770)
20–29 (n = 3,994)
30–39 (n = 5,890)
40–49 (n = 9,152)≥50 (n = 16,160)

725
6,672
26,775366
19,633
14,398
507
1,447
3,180
3,390
5,053
7,758
13,710

83.6
86.0
85.9
85.3
84.2
83.3
80.9
84.0
85.6

176
1,264
4,620
79
3,524
2,507
108
264
590
604
837
1,394
2,450

16.4
14.0
14.1
14.7
15.8
16.7
19.1

<0.0010.86<0.001

0.128

0.436

16.0
14.4

The association between street layout (connectivity and intergration) and social interaction in older
Japanese adults

8Proceedings of the 13th Space Syntax Symposium

Table 1 continued
χ2
p-Value

Change in social interaction
No decrease
Decrease
No.
%
No.
%

Characteristics (total numbers)

Depressive symptoms
Nondepressed (GDS < 5)
<0.001
23,110
85.4
3,965
14.6
(n = 27,075)
Depressed (GDS ≥ 5)
6,420
83.6
1,259
16.4
(n = 7,679)
Missing (n = 5,923)
5,008
84.6
915
15.4
Tertiles of population
density, people/km2<3308.5 (n = 15,479)
12,984
83.9
2,495
16.1
<0.0013308.5–9088.6 (n = 11,115)
9,426
84.8
1,689
15.2
>9088.6 (n = 14,083)
12,128
86.1
1,955
13.9
Sidewalk coverage (%)≤8.0% (n = 11,643)
9,784
84.0
1,859
16.0
0.013
8.1–14.2% (n = 11,793)
10,038
85.1
1,755
14.9
>14.4% (n = 11,233)
9,568
85.2
1,665
14.8
Missing (n = 6,008)
5,148
85.7
860
14.3
Street connectivity
Low (n = 13,565)
11,279
83.1
2,286
16.9
<0.001Moderate (n = 13,554)
11,595
85.5
1,959
14.5
High (n = 13,558)
11,664
86.0
1,894
14.0
Street integration
Low (n = 13,562)
11,297
83.3
2,265
16.7
<0.001Moderate (n = 13,557)
11,601
85.6
1,956
14.4
High (n = 13,558)
11,640
85.9
1,918
14.1
χ2 = chi-square test; GDS = 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (short form; GDS-15)

Table 2: Poisson regression results for associations between social interaction and explanatory variables.

Model

Stratified by age
Young–old (n = 26,242)

Model 1: street connectivity

IRR

Low (28.0–1587.9)

95% CI

p-Value

Old–old (n = 14,435)
IRR

Ref.

95% CI

p-Value

Ref.

Moderate (1588.0–2114.1)

0.89

0.81–0.97

0.006

0.85

0.76–0.95

0.004High (2114.6–4562.7)

0.93

0.83–1.03

0.167

0.75

0.65–0.87<0.001Model 2: street integration

IRR

95% CI

p-Value

IRR

95% CI

p-Value

Low (5.2–119.23)

Ref.

Ref.

Moderate (119.24–162.08)

0.91

0.83–0.99

0.023

0.85

0.76–0.95

0.003

High (162.09–354.12)

0.95

0.86–1.06

0.351

0.76

0.66–0.87<0.001

Ref. = reference group; IRR = incidence rate ratio; 95% CI = 95% confidence interval;
p-Value = significant p values (<0.05) are in bold

The association between street layout (connectivity and intergration) and social interaction in older
Japanese adults

9Proceedings of the 13th Space Syntax Symposium
Table 3: Poisson regression results for sensitivity analysis stratified by urban and rural.
Urban (n = 19,571)
Young–old (n = 12,754)

Connectivity

Rural (n = 21,106)

Old–old (n = 6,817)

pValueIRR

95% CI

Young–old (n = 13,488)
pValueIRR

95% CI

Old–old (n = 7,618)

pValueIRR

95% CI

pValueIRR

95% CI

Moderate

0.92

0.80–1.07

0.281

0.93

0.77–1.12

0.440

0.88

0.78–0.99

0.038

0.88

0.76–1.03

0.103

High

1.07

0.90–1.28

0.435

0.89

0.71–1.12

0.328

0.84

0.73–0.96

0.011

0.81

0.68–0.96

0.018

Integration

IRR

95% CI

pValueIRR

95% CI

pValueIRR

95% CI

pValueIRR

95% CI

pValueModerate

0.94

0.82–1.13

0.332

0.96

0.82–1.12

0.564

1.00

0.90–1.13

0.884

0.92

0.80–1.05

0.227

High

0.97

0.81–1.12

0.591

0.92

0.79–1.08

0.317

0.85

0.75–0.97

0.016

0.79

0.67–0.94

0.006

Low

Ref.

Low

Ref.

Ref.

Ref.

Ref.

Ref.

Ref.

Ref.

Ref. = reference group; IRR = incidence rate ratio; 95% CI = 95% confidence interval
p-Value = significant p values (<0.05) are in bold

8-/#&1##/,0'!0-'&,0&21#/,0#'

For the relationship between street layout (connectivity and integration) and social interaction, old–old
showed a significant positive association in both street layout indexes compared with young–old.
Generally, old–old are less healthy than young–old, with a lower frequency of going out and lower
daily walking duration. While old–old may have limited capacity, those living in high-connectivity
and high-integration areas may still be able to access destinations (such as transportation hubs, shops,
medical facilities, and community centers) and may ultimately have opportunities to interact withothers. With increasing age, the environments that older people inhabit and how they interact withthem are important since the neighborhood can develop and maintain the functional ability of older
people and can eventually contribute to healthy aging (WHO, 2015). Among young–old, although thepoint estimations of street connectivity and street integration were in the same direction, there were no
significant results in the high-connectivity and high-integration areas. High-connectivity and highintegration areas are considered to generate higher pedestrian volumes; however, as discussed in aprevious study, people may encounter many strangers daily in high-density areas, especially in Asia. It
is challenging to discern familiar faces in large populations; thus, interaction with others may be
restricted (French et al., 2014; Koohsari et al., 2021).
In this study, similar results were found between street connectivity and street integration (Table 2).
Both of these values evaluate neighborhood walkability (Frank et al., 2005; Koohsari et al., 2016).
High-connectivity areas represent neighborhoods with many grids and streets with many turns,
providing more pedestrian routes. The characteristics of high-integration regions with morestraightforward navigation include higher pedestrian volume, information regarding transportation,and shops. Thus, the higher the street layout indexes are, the more chances of interaction an area
provides.

The association between street layout (connectivity and intergration) and social interaction in older
Japanese adults

10Proceedings of the 13th Space Syntax Symposium

Street connectivity and social interaction
Among old–old, we found that, with higher street connectivity, there was a lower incidence of
decreased interaction after three years. Our result is consistent with the previous study, which reportsthat the perception of connectivity is positively associated with broadening the social network withfriends and neighbors(Leslie and Cerin, 2008). Watts et al. (2015) discussed that, with higher street
connectivity, there are more grids in the street network, providing short and direct routes and creating
many alternative paths for access to a place. An America study used Global Positioning System totrack pedestrians’ walking routes and found that pedestrians tended to choose different routes for their
daily round-trip (Bongiorno et al., 2021). That is, the higher the street connectivity is, the morealternative routes there are for people to walk in the street networks. Watts et al. (2015) alsomentioned that areas with high intersection densities yield more potential routes and destinations formeeting and encountering people. Thus, such areas deliver more opportunities for social interaction.
Contrarily, a previous study of Japanese adults (40–69 years old) reported that street connectivity(measured by the number of three-way or more intersections per km2) was negatively associated withactivities with neighbors (Koohsari et al., 2021). Additionally, their study found no association
between perceived street connectivity and activities with neighbors. They suggested that traffic safety
between pedestrians and vehicles is of concern in higher-connectivity areas, and thus, such areas
might limit interactions. However, Koohsari et al. (2021) did not consider sidewalk coverage.
Considering that high-connectivity areas carry heavy traffic, the presence of streets with sidewalks
may ease safety concerns and may encourage pedestrians, thus not limiting interactions. Zuniga-Teranet al. (2017) discussed that neighborhood design type influences social interaction. Neighborhoods
with low street connectivity—for example, a neighborhood with many cul-de-sacs or a gatedcommunity that is fenced on the outer boundary—may decrease the possibility for people to interact
with others because such enclosed communities with low accessibility lead to fewer people passing
through and a lack of diversity.
Street integration and social interaction
Koohsari et al. (2016) used street integration and population density to develop an alternative
walkability index called space syntax walkability. They reported the first study using space syntax
walkability to examine how it relates to Japanese adults’ social interaction. However, the study results
found a negative association between space syntax walkability and activities with neighbors (Koohsari
et al., 2021). Because of the cross-sectional design, we do not know the causal relationship between
space syntax walkability and activities with neighbors. Furthermore, the study focused more on
middle-aged people, which means that the characteristics of working age and time of staying in theneighborhood may differ from older people. Compared with the results of our longitudinal study, we
found that higher- and moderate-street-integration areas exert a protective effect from decreasingsocial interaction among both young–old and old–old. The central part of areas—usually with higher
street integration—may increase walking behavior because there is no required complicated cognitive
function for navigation. Moreover, one of the types of walking (walking for recreation, such as dog

The association between street layout (connectivity and intergration) and social interaction in older
Japanese adults

11Proceedings of the 13th Space Syntax Symposium

walking and exercise) showed significant association with social interactions because it may be more
likely to yield simple communication or greeting of neighbors (Zuniga-Teran et al., 2017).
Strengths and limitations
The present study used longitudinal data to capture the change in social interaction over three years
among young–old and old–old. Moreover, we excluded the participants that moved out during thestudy period; thus, we focused on the same built environment exposure among participants. To thebest of our knowledge, only one cross-sectional study has been conducted on the relationship betweensocial interaction with neighbors and street layout measured by space syntax. Therefore, the current
study results provide the evidence to compare these findings with previous studies.
However, this study has several limitations. First, our study area was not randomly selected, so it may
not necessarily reflect Japan as a whole. However, our study covered a wide range of regions acrossJapan, from north to south. Second, the participants’ residential data that we used in the analysis may
differ from the actual address. Due to privacy reasons, the chocho-aza data used in our study were
only a relatively accurate representation of the participants’ residential addresses. Third, we did notcontrol the frequency of social interaction and social participation. For example, people who
participate in cultural activities may know more neighbors than those who do not, and this may haveinfluenced the study results. Fourth, the street layout values were measured with an 800-meter circularbuffer, which may cause bias. As Koohsari et al. (2021) discussed, a circular buffer may not genuinely
represent the built environment attributes to which participants were exposed. Thus, our findings need
to be replicated in different types of spatial buffers in further studies.
In conclusion, we discovered that better street layout is associated with lower incidence of decreasedsocial interaction among old–old people in Japan. This research provides supporting evidence toinform urban design to aid in healthy community development.

910-/0:'This study used data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, which was supported by the
MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology – Japan)-Supported Program
for the Strategic Research Foundation at Private Universities (2009–2013), the Japan Society for the
Promotion of Science (KAKENHI grant numbers JP18390200, JP22330172, JP22390400,
JP23243070, JP23590786, JP23790710, JP24390469, JP24530698, JP24683018, JP25253052,
JP25870573, JP25870881, JP26285138, JP26882010, JP15H01972, 19K04785, 20K13721,
22K04450, and 20H00557, a large-scale survey), Health, Labour and Welfare Sciences Research
Grants (H22-Choju-Shitei-008, H24-Junkanki [Seishu]-Ippan-007, H24-Chikyukibo-Ippan-009, H24Choju-Wakate-009, H25-Kenki-Wakate-015, H25-Choju-Ippan-003, H26-Irryo-Shitei-003 [Fukkou],
H26-Choju-Ippan-006, H27-Ninchisyou-Ippan-001, H28-choju-Ippan-002, H28-Ninchisyou-Ippan002, H30-Kenki-Ippan-006, H30-Junkankitou-Ippan-004), the Japan Agency for Medical Researchand Development (JP17dk0110017, JP18dk0110027, JP18ls0110002, JP18le0110009), Research

The association between street layout (connectivity and intergration) and social interaction in older
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12Proceedings of the 13th Space Syntax Symposium

Funding for Longevity Sciences from the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology (24-17, 2423, 29-42, 30-22), the Research Institute and Academia (OPERA, JPMJOP1831), and the Japan
Science and Technology Agency (JST). The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of
the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of the respective fundingorganizations.

!3!/2!"/2/$*',9'-!$!'!0-'5!$)%/!2#'
Data are from the JAGES study. Please contact JAGES data management committee andEmail dataadmin@jages.net requests for access.

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