Virtual Assessment of Physical Activity–Related Built Environment in Soweto, South Africa: What Is the Role of Contextual Familiarity?

• DOI: 10.1007/s11524-024-00914-3
• Publication Date: 2024-09-10T16:02:16Z
• Authors: Motlatso Godongwana; Khulu Gama; Vongani Maluleke; Lisa K. Micklesfield; Damilola Odekunle; Yves Florent Wasnyo; Boris Elouna; Edwin Ngwa; Adalberto Lopes; Muhammad Rabiu Ba...; Eva Coringrato; Alice McGushin; Tolu Oni; Louise Foley; Tiago Canelas
• Keywords: MAPS-Global; Built environment; Physical activity; Contextual familiarity; Virtual assessment; Reproducibility of Results; South Africa; Residence Characteristics; Humans; Environment Design; Original Article; Built Environment; Exercise; Pedestrians

AbstractUnderstanding how urban environments shape physical activity is critical in rapidly urbanizing countries such as South Africa. We assessed the reliability of virtual audits for characterizing urban features related to physical activity in Soweto, South Africa. We used the Microscale Audit of Pedestrian Streetscapes Global tool to characterize pedestrian-related features from Google Street View images in four neighborhoods of Soweto. Neighborhoods were selected to represent different levels of deprivation. Inter-rater reliability was analyzed according to the rater’s familiarity with the local area. The results show a higher inter-rater reliability was observed among auditors with greater contextual familiarity. Many measurements however generated inconclusive results due to either low variability in the raters’ responses or the absence of the features in the streets. It is evident from our findings that virtual audits are efficient tools that can be used to assess the built environment. However, to ensure meaningful use of these tools in diverse settings, we recommend that auditors comprise of people with contextual familiarity.