Should Cities Become Walkable? A Cross-cutting Discussion Based on Data
Background and Objectives
“Walkability" is positioned as an absolute good in today's urban development, and many innovations to facilitate walking have been proposed, along with introductions to advanced examples. But should cities really be walkable? Being aware of this problem, this study considers the following five points: "What is good about being walkable?" "Is it good for everyone?" "Are the current initiatives (system and guidelines) for walkables the best?" "Is there any harm in it?" and "What impact will walkability improvements have on other modes of transportation?" Based mainly on the data obtained by the members from actual measurements, we aim to not only extract points to be considered in the future promotion of walkables but also construct a more favorable method of creating town center spaces by inviting members with diverse backgrounds as guests for discussion.
Expected Results
Points (1) and (2), namely, "What is good about it?" and “Is it good for everyone?”, will be discussed by obtaining data on actual usage, physiological data of users (*The Ethics Committee of the university to which the proposer belongs will approve the handling of personal information), and sales records of surrounding stores, and so on, for Marunouchi Street Park, which the proposer has been involved in up to now. Previous studies have already suggested that people with high- and low-anxiety characteristics rate walkables differently. The various survey data are unavailable for similar cases and can be discussed with foresight. The remaining three points will be discussed with invited officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, as well as through the results of domestic and international field surveys. The adverse effects will be discussed by conducting surveys in Japan and abroad, paying attention to exposure to air pollution and the risk of heat stroke. Through these discussions, we will be able to present a non-standardized image of comfortable spaces and gain knowledge that can actually contribute to the development of future policies, such as points to be mindful of when developing such spaces.