Architecture and pedestrians. Architectural Guidelines for a walkable City

Abstract

These guidelines are one of the outcomes of a research program about the relationships between architecture, urban design and pedestrian mobility. The Department of Urban Planning of the School of Architecture, at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, developed this program during 2006-2008, while the Spanish Ministry of Public Works and Transport (“Ministerio de Fomento”) sponsored it . Its aim was to understand the influence of urban planning, urban design and architecture on pedestrian behavior. Today pedestrian trips are declining in almost every country and city. The reasons for this decline are various and complex, but almost anybody doubts about the importance of urban and architectural features on it. For decades, they have yield a growth in intra-urban distances paired with the creation of really unfriendly pedestrian environments. Sprawl, low densities, zoning or open plan design can be considered among the main clues to understand the growth of motorized trips and the reduction of pedestrians ones. Consequently, it is considered that promoting walking through an intelligent and considered design should be a primer goal not only for urban planning, but for urban design and architectural projects.