Gångvänliga gator - Fotgängares upplevelse av walkability på centrala gator i Malmö

In one way or another, everyone is a pedestrian. The planning for walkable cities has received more and more attention over the years. Researchers in the fields of transportation, the health sciences, urban design, and environmental psychology have all contributed to the walkability research by focusing on different aspects of walking. Walkability can be defined as factors related to the planning-field and the built environment that supports and encourage walking. This study aims to investigate how walkability is perceived by pedestrians in relation to the built environment. Perceptions of walkability is based on socio-ecological models and ideas that focus on how the built environment influence people’s behavior. Go-along interviews (n=67) and structured observations were conducted in two selected streets in Malmö to collect semiquantitative data on perceptions of walkability. The findings expand our understanding of walking needs and what factors influence pedestrian perception of the environment. Like earlier studies, this study finds that the experience of walkability varies in relation to the built environment and the combination of land use. The obtained results indicate that mixed uses as well as connected streets and an overall pleasant and interesting street space are central to the experience of walkability.