Measuring the Unmeasurable: Urban Design Qualities Related to Walkability

Abstract

This study attempts to comprehensively and objectively measure subjective qualities of the urban street environment. Using ratings from an expert panel, it was possible to measure five urban design qualities in terms of physical characteristics of streets and their edges: imageability, enclosure, human scale, transparency and complexity. The operational definitions do not always comport with the qualitative definitions, and provide new insights into the nature of these urban design qualities. The immediate purpose of this study is to arm researchers with operational definitions they can use to measure the street environment and test for significant associations with walking behaviour. A validation study is currently underway in New York City. Depending on the outcome of this and other follow-up research, the ultimate purpose would be to inform urban design practice.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding support of the Active Living Research Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The panel of leading experts consisted of: Victor Dover, urban designer, Dover, Kohl & Partners Town Planning; Geoffrey Ferrell, urban designer/code expert, Geoffrey Ferrell Associates; Mark Francis, landscape architect, University of California, Davis, CA; Michael Kwartler, architect/simulations expert, Environmental Simulation Center; Rob Lane, urban designer, Regional Plan Association; Anne Vernez Moudon, urban designer/planner, University of Washington; Tony Nelessen, urban designer, A. Nelessen Associates, Inc.; John Peponis, architect/space syntax expert, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA; Michael Southworth, urban designer, University of California, Berkeley, CA; and Dan Stokols, social ecologist, University of California, Irvine, CA