Automotive retrofits in historic city centres and their potential effects on their walkability: a comparison of San Luis Obispo, CA, USA and Bath, England, UK

An Application of the Walkability Index for Elderly Health—WIEH. The Case of the UNESCO Historic Centre of Porto, Portugal

“…Furthermore, the diversity of historic centers and their characteristics-precisely one of the aspects that makes heritage valuablealso makes it difficult to generalize certain aspects of their built environments. Nevertheless, some similarities often appear between the historic centers of European cities, such as their compact form, narrow streets and sidewalks, somewhat dilapidated historic buildings, and the mix of building uses [30][31][32]. In particular, the lack of an adequate sidewalk width, the bad state of sidewalk conservation, and barriers like electric poles or signs can decrease walkability for older people.…”

“…Another particularity of historic centers pertains to urban space adjustments following the invention of the automobile, for example in the form of parking lots that now limit the quality of the pedestrian network. In their study of parking retrofit approaches, Bass and Livingston [30] stress that parking directly in front of buildings (whenever it is appropriate to the function of the street and ensures a balanced occupation of the space) can serve as a visual safety barrier between pedestrians and street traffic. It can also maintain a good connection between the buildings and the sidewalk.…”

A Comprehensive Evaluation of Walkability in Historical Cities: The Case of Xi’an and Kyoto

“…Moreover, it provides important support for conserving the vitality of a city's historical and cultural blocks [10]. Having been established well before the age of automobiles, the historical blocks in a number of cities have kept much of their walkable spatial scale and urban form [11]. However, in adapting to automobile-oriented urban development, the walking environments in many have been significantly affected.…”

Pedestrians as floating life - On the reinvention of the pedestrian city

“…The revitalisation of urban cores through the promotion of density and mix in combination with amendments and changes to street-level design are pressing concerns for contemporary city planning (Forsyth and Southworth, 2008;Lo, 2009;Lusk et al, 2018). To date, a multi-disciplinary literature has explored the complexities of walking and 'walkability' via an array of empirically tested cases across a variety of spatial scales (see Monheim, 2003;Southworth, 2005;Wunderlich, 2008;Kärrholm, 2017 andBass andLivingstone, 2018). Representing a popular but nebulous term, walkability encompasses a broad array of pedestrian-orientated scholarship focused on aggregating complex factors on the possibilities for and contingents of walking including: distance, negotiability, sense of place, density, functional mix, access networks, personal space and safety (Lo, 2009;Dovey and Pafka, 2020).…”