Measuring the Unmeasurable: Urban Design Qualities Related to Walkability

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, hu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of urban design Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 65 - 84
Main Authors Ewing, Reid, Handy, Susan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Nottingham Taylor & Francis Group 01.02.2009
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Civil engineering
Evaluation
Measurement
New York
Pedestrians
Quality standards
Roads
Studies
U.S.A
Urban design
Urban development
Urban planning
Validation studies
Walking
New York City New York
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Summary: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.
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ISSN:1357-4809
1469-9664
DOI:10.1080/13574800802451155