Walking city

"Walking City" redirects here. For the conceptual, moving city, see Ron Herron § Walking City.

A walking city or walkable city is a type of city that actively avoids the need for vehicular transportation, and emphasizes the use of walking.^[1] It is often characterized by narrow, often winding streets.^[2] A walkable city also implies a more egalitarian movement facility than contemporary automotive cities, with fewer citizens being disadvantaged by a lack of transport.^[2] A higher degree of walkability between areas of a city has been shown to promote a wide range of benefits for its inhabitants, such as in equity, sustainability, health, social benefits, less demand on other modes of transportation, economic development, and general enjoyment.^[3]

Narrow streets are a common feature in walking cities, where space is at a premium.

History

Walking cities were the dominant kind of city before the advent of machine-powered transportation, due to land transportation being a scarce commodity. Cities were arranged in a manner to reduce long one way trips.^[4] This meant that common features such as circulation patterns were highly sought after by city planners. This ensured people would travel the least distance possible. The crooked streets of medieval European towns, while seemingly random and inefficient, were created to enable accessible circumferential routes between common local destinations.^[4]

In Europe, the walking city was the dominant design until about 1850, when walking and horse-drawn transport began to be supplanted as the primary means of movement for the overall populace by collective means of transportation.^[2]

Around the world, many walking cities became overrun by cars with the vast proliferation of the automotive industry during the 1950s and 1960s. This caused cities to change their designs to be centred around heavier automotive infrastructure. However, even after replacing a lot of pedestrian infrastructure, some cities gradually reclaimed their walkability qualities; places such as Freiburg and Munich in Germany, and Copenhagen in Denmark.^[2]

Walking cities in the United States also diminished following the rise of automotive transport and largely transformed into urban sprawls. The iconic American suburbs, which surround most large cities in the US, largely fail to provide the same amenities available in walkable cities at a reasonable walking distance. While there are usually opportunities for leisure walks around many neighbourhoods, there can still be a need to transit into the city for access to amenities such as healthcare, grocery stores, work opportunities, or education.^[5]

Features

In walking cities, everything was "crammed into the smallest space possible". Streets were by necessity narrow, overhanging upper stories were common, and they were often surrounded by walls for defensive purposes.^[4] Urban planning and policies related to zoning and infrastructure allow modern cities to be more walkable.^[6] However, past city planning affects current public transit systems, causing areas with large urban sprawl to have less accessible public transit. An example of this is the United States, which spends more public tax dollars on transit than comparable European and Asian countries, but has lower ridership.^[7]

Walking cities can allow for greater economic, health,^[5] and social outcomes by allowing opportunities for connection in environments that prioritize human health over vehicular transit. Non-vehicular transit tends to be more reliable, affordable, and can increase ease for a consumer to get from shop to shop.^[8] Walking cities also allowed for physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving a way to be outside safely. The pandemic saw an increase in walking for leisure, as compared to walking for utilitarian purposes, a trend that has remained consistent in the years following the lockdowns.^[9]

Green spaces and parks within walking cities can encourage the physical activity of residents of all ages. They can reduce air, water, and noise pollution by creating sustainable outdoor spaces.

Examples

Edinburgh High Street, Scotland

The ten most walkable cities around the world are Florence, Venice, Riga, Athens, Hamburg, Edinburgh, Madrid, Porto, Tallinn and Stockholm according to a 2002 study by tourlane.com.^[10]

The walkability of an area is determined by factors such as density, functional mix, and access networks. In addition, the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) ranked the walkability of cities according to the closeness to car-free places (100m), closeness to healthcare and education (1km), and by small size of city blocks.^[11] Components including the allocation of funds toward public transit and walkways, as well as zoning and infrastructure changes contribute to the success of walkable cities.

Spain, Madrid combines inner-city transit with light-rail trains to provide over 89% of the population access to the transit system from less than one kilometer away.^[12]

Environmental impact

Walkable cities encourage walking, biking, and public transit opposed to passenger vehicles, which decreases the use of fossil fuels. In the United States, transportation is the largest contributor of green house gas emissions, accounting for 27% of the total in 2020.^[13] Moreover, increased walkability results in less air and noise pollution, as well as additional land for green space that is not being used by vehicles.^[14] These factors along with others tackle environmental disproportionality and injustice through ameliorating climate change and diversifying accessibility. The United Nations outlines 17 Sustainable Development Goals that aim to tackle social and environmental problems.^[15] Walking cities address SDG #11: Sustainable Cities and Communities through urban planning that allows access to better transportation.^[16]

See also

• 15-minute city – Urban accessibility concept, in which most daily necessities and services, such as work, shopping, education, healthcare, and leisure can be easily reached by a 15-minute walk, bike ride, or public transit ride from any point in the city
• Automotive city – Urban planning prioritising automobiles
• Carfree city – Urban area absent of motor vehicles
• Most livable cities
• Pedestrian village – Urban planning for mixed-use areas prioritising pedestrians
• Permeability (spatial and transport planning) – Freedom of movement of traffic
• Street reclamation – Changing streets to focus on non-car use
• Transit-oriented development – Urban planning prioritising transit
• Urban vitality – Intensity of use of an urban area