Abstract
Urban sprawl and increasing population density in urban centers create the challenge to
finding ways of sustainable transportation solutions that preserve the convenience of
residents while reducing emissions. Therefore, walkability is a core urban design element
because of being advantageous onto three fronts: health, livability, and sustainability.
Adopting walkability as urban solution relieves conceptual and practical tensions between
the individualistic interests manifested in the desire to own and use private cars, and the
need to reduce transportation-based consumption. This review advocates that long-term
health benefits from walking and physical activity are the premier incentive to repurpose our
cities to be more sustainable and more walking friendly, and spark behavioral change into
reducing car dependency for all daily transportations. The review inspects physical
elements of the built environment that make the walking trip feasible and desirable,
such as connectivity, accessibility, and closeness of destination points, presence of
greenness and parks, commercial retail, and proximity to transit hubs and stations.
Hence, this review explores a few popular walkability evaluation indices and
frameworks that employ subjective, objective, and/or distinctive methods within variant
environmental, cultural, and national context. There is no unified universal standardized
walkability theory despite the need for rigorous evaluation tools for policy makers and
developers. Furthermore, there is a lack of emphasis on air quality and thermal stress while
approaching walkability, despite being important elements in the walking experience.
Research opportunities in the field of walkability can leverage location tracking from smart
devices and identify the interaction patterns of pedestrians with other transportation
modes, especially for those with fundamental movement challenges such as
wheelchair users.
Keywords
walkability evaluations
Sustainability
Livability
Built environment
health