Do place makers really understand walkability?

‘Walkability’ is a concept which is often talked about but rarely examined properly in place management. We all ‘know’ that the walkability of a local area fosters physical activity, social interaction, and access to amenities without a reliance on cars. But do place makers spend enough time actually examining the walkability of the places we plan, create and manage?

New to place making and wondering ‘what IS walkability?’

Walkability refers to the extent to which an area facilitates safe, comfortable, and enjoyable pedestrian movement, fostering physical activity, social interaction, and access to amenities without relying heavily on cars.

Decreasing vehicle movements and increasing pedestrian movements has indisputable benefits on our personal health (increased physical activity and mental wellbeing), and also environmental health (decreased emissions and road surfaces). 

BUT, beyond being ‘good for us’, neighbourhoods where people can and do get around on foot are also more likely to have stronger local economies. 

How is walkability important for local economies?

Top place managers prioritise walkability because it fundamentally enhances the attractiveness and functionality of their spaces. A walkable environment - clearly - enables people to explore and engage with the area on foot. And increased foot traffic leads to increased social interactions as well as incidental visitation. 

Like that time you went to the shops for the newspaper (I think people still do that…) and also ducked into the bakery for a jam scroll and the cafe for a latte. You’re much more likely to make those opportunistic stop offs (and then purchases) when you’re on foot. 

And the social connection side of walking is also critical. Have you ever felt emotionally connected to a place while you’re driving through it? It’s definitely much harder. But when you’re walking along the street, feeling the warm sun, reading the posters in shop windows, and making eye contact with other people, you’re much more likely to have an experience that is memorable and valuable. We talk about ‘Earning the Commute’ in another recent article, which talks even more about destination appeal in the age of online commerce. 

Three things about walkability that are easy to forget

So now that we have established that walkability IS key to great places, let’s talk about three characteristics of walkability that are easy to overlook:

1. Walkability is hyperlocal?

Too often the ‘walkability’ of a location is thought of through a whole of centre lens - is “South Bank” walkable? But of course, walkability must be looked at hyperlocally. We all know the pain of finding yourself on the wrong side of a train line, or even a large building, and having to walk ‘all the way around’ to get where you’re going. 

ACTION: The starting point of your walkability analysis matters. To really understand how walkable a location is, try plotting isochrones* from various starting points, and comparing the area covered by each. Large isochrones indicate good walkability, while smaller shapes are more limited. 

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2. Walkability changes

Although we know that driving catchments will change based on changes to traffic speeds, it’s often thought that the walking catchments are fairly static. But the opposite is true. Given the slower speeds of pedestrians, even a relatively small change to the physical environment can vastly change the accessibility of a local area. A closed pedestrian bridge can make it completely impractical to access the other side of the train tracks within a reasonable time. 

ACTION: Always use the latest base maps when undertaking walkability analysis, and keep checking over time. Don’t assume that last year’s information is still reliable. 

3. Walkability impacts your catchment

It's fairly obvious that walkability analysis shows which amenities your visitors can easily access once they get to you - for example visitors get to the pedestrian mall, and can also access the library and riverfront within 10 minutes. But what is often not considered, is that the same isochrone plots also reveal which residents live within a short walk of your location. These are your true locals - the ones that can (and should) come to your location within an easy walk. This base of people are the ones that should be most loyal to your location - they will still come when it’s cold, or if their friend cancels on brunch, or they’re out walking the dog.

ACTION: Rather than thinking about ‘your community’ as only the suburb-wide residents, utilise a tool which enables you to learn more about these local residents. If you can pinpoint how many people (and which ones) can walk to your location, you can find your loyal base of visitors. 

To learn how to find these insights in the Neighourlytics platform, take a look at this Help Centre Post: How to examine the walkability of your neighbourhood.

Isochrone: a plot on a map showing the area that can be reached within a certain travel time and mode. For example, a 10 minute walk isochrone.

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