WEBVTT

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For many people,

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walking is a healthy
and enjoyable way of getting around.

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But at the same time,
the urban environment

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often lacks walkability.

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Therefore, the international project
WalkUrban

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aims for a better understanding
of walkability and investigates

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supporting and hindering factors
for walking in the city.

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We are an interdisciplinary project team
including the ILS, the City of Genoa,

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the University College of London,
and the University of Gävle.

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We analyze walkability in urban
neighborhoods in our three case

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study cities
Dortmund, Genoa and Gothenburg.

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Then we studied
the needs of different target groups.

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The general public, older people,

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schoolchildren,
people with disabilities and commuters

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to gain a better understanding
of walkability in urban neighborhoods.

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We used a multi method study design.

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First, we calculated the object of
walkability in each urban neighborhoods.

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Second, we captured perceptions
of the walkability travel related

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attitudes, travel behavior and travel
satisfaction and our household survey.

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Third, we asked people to assess their own
walking routes

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as part of the citizen science approach.

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And finally, we carried out walkalongs

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to capture
the different needs of our target groups.

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In this

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study, we used a new scale
to measure perceived walkability,

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which turned out to be a reliable scale,
and also

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with limited respondance burden.

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We found that perceived
walkability is mainly affected

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by the city where people live
in, the type of residential neighborhoods

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where they live in, but also by walking
barriers and, walking attitudes.

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We found that this perceived walkability
positively affects

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walking frequency,
walking duration and walking distance,

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and this for different types
of walking trips.

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And we think that insights from
this study can help

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urban planners and policymakers
to stimulate walking,

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by improving,
perceived walkability levels,

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for instance,
by removing walking barriers.

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Genoa had direct contact

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with the schools and schoolchildren
that took part to the walk along.

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Their suggestions were appreciate
input for the administration

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for future interventions.

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WalkUrban encouraged

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schools
the to participate in the PediBus-project.

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PediBus consists in a group of children
going at school, accompanied

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by some parents,
and with this project the children

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learned road safety
and sustainable mobility.

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Also the number of cars going to school
is reduced.

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With WalkUrban
we also had the opportunity to listen

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to disabled people
and to listen to their needs.

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And so we can say that with WalkUrban,
the administration had the opportunity

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to listen to citizen needs
and to plan future interventions

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to promote
working in urban areas of the city.

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I think it's necessary,
that the administration

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takes care of citizens
and listens to their needs.

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So it's very, very important,

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that the administration
listens to the needs

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of the stakeholders of different target
groups, to make the project

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a very, very attractive for the citizens
and to respond to their needs.

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In terms of results: Children and adults

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have differing ideas of what
a walkable place is.

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Where children
finding it harder to adapt to changes

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in the environment that they're
in compared to adults who find it easier.

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And we're pleased to say that these
findings have gained a lot of attention.

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We've been able to communicate with many
stakeholders, including municipalities,

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schools, as well as with the general
public via TV and radio.

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In general, we found that the street
level conditions, such as

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the amount of space on the pavement,
the cleanliness and the safety

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that people feel had a big effect
on the perceived walkability.

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Greenspace
and nature were also particularly valued

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by all of our target groups.

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Our findings suggest

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that just small changes, such
as removing parked cars from pavements,

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can make a big difference
when it comes to urban walkability.

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For more information, please walkurban.eu