A number of methods now exist to capture the physical environment of communities. The methods used by these can be broadly classified into four categories.
The first use geocoded data within Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to analyse relationships between individuals and places.
The second uses questionnaires administered to residents of communities to collate information on individual perceptions of the community they live in.
The third involves systematic observation or audit, in which a trained individual conducts an assessment of a community by observing and recording information along a pre-specified route.
The fourth category is based on the capture of digital photos of the built environment and off-line analysis of data. The emergence of street view images e.g. Google Street View, provides a valuable data source for auditing the built environment and enables a better examination of the relationship between people and the built environment. For example, it is important to understand how 'walkability' and green spaces contribute to urban sustainability.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0110042
https://senseable.mit.edu/papers/pdf/20200801_Kang-etal_ReviewUrbanPhysical_AnnalsGIS.pdf