Quantifying the relationship between visitor satisfaction and perceived accessibility to pedestrian spaces on festival days

Many cities organize cultural festivals to promote their distinctiveness, boost the local economy, and enhance quality of life. However, urban spaces are packed with visitors on festival days, thus affecting accessibility to pedestrian spaces. This research examined visitor satisfaction with accessibility to pedestrian spaces during special events such as festivals. We particularly focused on the Hakata Dontaku festival, which is celebrated in Fukuoka, Japan. We studied three main elements that affect pedestrian satisfaction and perceived accessibility through walking, namely, safety, mobility, and amenities. We first analyzed previous studies and employed analytical hierarchy process to setup indicators for satisfaction measurement. Second, we determined visitor satisfaction through a survey questionnaire, which was conducted during the Hakata Dontaku festival. Third, we assessed the normality of the data set that was obtained from the questionnaire. Finally, we applied structural equation modeling. Results showed that the proposed model was a good fit, as indicated by the goodness of fit test, and the majority of indicators loaded significant values that supported their constructs. Satisfaction with amenities was found to be the most statistically significant variable that influences visitors׳ perceived accessibility during the Hakata Dontaku festival.