Designing the Walkable City
Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 131, Issue 4
Abstract
With federal policy beginning to shift from auto-centric planning, provision for pedestrian and bicycle access is now mandated in federally supported projects. However, the field of transportation planning has little in the way of theory and methods to guide design and planning for walkable cities. Walkability is increasingly valued for a variety of reasons. Not only does pedestrian transportation reduce congestion and have low environmental impact, it has social and recreational value. Recent research suggests that walking also promotes mental and physical health. The quality of the pedestrian environment is key to encouraging people to choose walking over driving. Six criteria are presented for design of a successful pedestrian network: (1) connectivity; (2) linkage with other modes; (3) fine grained land use patterns; (4) safety; (5) quality of path; and (6) path context. To achieve walkable cities in the United States it will be necessary to assess current walkability conditions, revise standards and regulations, research walking behavior in varied settings, promote public education and participation in pedestrian planning, and encourage collaboration and interdisciplinary education between transportation engineers and the design professions.
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Acknowledgments
The writer is grateful for the assistance provided by Raymond Isaacs, Sungjin Park, and Jeff Williams.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 131 • Issue 4 • December 2005
Pages: 246 - 257
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Feb 14, 2005
Accepted: Apr 15, 2005
Published online: Dec 1, 2005
Published in print: Dec 2005
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