Reported and measured walking time to a supermarket and its relevance to satisfaction with local supply situation

Current urban planning concepts, such as the “compact city”, aim to ensure that residents can meet most of their daily needs within walking distance. This improves quality of life and reduces dependence on cars. As the German population ages, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure local accessibility for older adults in particular. In this context, surveys remain an important tool for assessing the situation on site. This study examines how older residents’ subjective reports of walking time to supermarkets correspond with objective distance measures, and how both relate to satisfaction with local shopping opportunities. Using survey data from residents aged 50 to 75 in three German cities (Jena, Kaiserslautern, and Mannheim), combined with network-based estimations of walking distance, we found that self-reported accessibility broadly reflected objective distances. Both subjective and objective measures are strong predictors of satisfaction. The moderation by income, health and walking habits is limited. These findings support the use of subjective survey data as a valid tool for planning and research on residential satisfaction, particularly when fine-grained spatial data is unavailable.