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ABSTRACT
The global trend towards the growth of urban population poses the issue of the public space influence on outdoor practices of different subjects. Urban public space is the carrier of an ever-increasing number and density of users. Walking, both as a form of transportation and as a vector to physical activity and social interactions, emerges as a fundamental category of behaviour. The proposed research develops a theoretical and methodological framework for assessing walkability of the urban space. Building on concepts of capability and affordance, walkability is herein conceptualized in terms of the effect of affordances incorporated into the built environment on individuals’ propensity to walk for different purposes. The methodological framework aims to capture the characteristics of walkability across scales as the product of the intrinsic and extrinsic properties of an urban setting.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the project ‘Space Syntax and Multicriteria Analysis for the Measurement of Walkability in the Build Environment’, founded by the programme ‘Bando 2019 Mobilità Giovani Ricercatori (MGR)’, financed by the Autonomous Region of Sardinia (under the Regional Law of 7 August 2007, n. 7 ‘Promotion of Scientific Research and Technological Innovation in Sardinia’).
Author contribution
This paper is the result of the joint work of the authors. In particular, ‘Methodology’, ‘Results’ and ‘Selection of the Case study’ and ‘Discussion’ were written jointly by the authors. C.G. wrote ‘Introduction’ and ‘Methodological basis’. A.A. wrote ‘Literature review’ C.Y. wrote ‘Conclusions’.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).