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A Literature Review on Walkability and its Theoretical Framework. Emerging Perspectives for Research Developments

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Computational Science and Its Applications – ICCSA 2020 (ICCSA 2020)

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Abstract

Urbanization identifies the contemporary city as the crucible of human condition. This tendency elicits the issue of the ways in which the built environment affects human behaviour. In particular, walking emerges as a central topic. Walking, in fact, is conceptualized as a vector for engaging with the world, and as a conduit to physical activity, social contact and optional practices. Consequently, a vast body of literature exists, related to the concept of walkability. The latter can be defined as the built environment potential to affect people’s propensity to walk to different destinations and for different purposes. This study, through a comprehensive literature review investigates four concepts: capability; affordance; configuration and Urban ethics. These concepts embody four central dimensions of the research on walkability: arguments for investigating walkability; conceptualization of person-environment transactions; methodologies and ethical implications. The aim of this study, thus, is to individuate the theoretical framework for a precise understanding of the impact of the built environment on human behaviour and to underline perspectives for the further development of the research on walkability.

This paper is the result of the joint work of the authors. ‘Abstract’ ‘Introduction’ ‘Methodology’ and ‘Results’ were written jointly by the authors. Chiara Garau wrote the ‘State of the art on walkability’ and ‘Conclusions’. Alfonso Annunziata wrote the ‘Theoretical framework’.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the project “Space Syntax and Multicriteria Analysis for the Measurement of Walkability in the Build Environment”, founded by the programme “Bando 2019 Mobilità Giovani Ricercatori (MGR)”, financed by the Autonomous Region of Sardinia (under the Regional Law of 7 August 2007, n. 7 “Promotion of Scientific Research and Technological Innovation in Sardinia”). This study was also supported by the MIUR) through the project “WEAKI TRANSIT: WEAK-demand areas Innovative TRANsport Shared services for Italian Towns (Project protocol: 20174ARRHT_004; CUP Code: F74I19001290001), financed with the PRIN 2017 (Research Projects of National Relevance) programme. We authorize the MIUR to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes, notwithstanding any copyright notations thereon. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the MIUR.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture (DICAAR), University of Cagliari, 09129, Cagliari, Italy

    Alfonso Annunziata & Chiara Garau

Authors
  1. Alfonso Annunziata
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  2. Chiara Garau
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chiara Garau .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy

    Osvaldo Gervasi

  2. University of Basilicata, Potenza, Potenza, Italy

    Beniamino Murgante

  3. Chair- Center of ICT/ICE, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria

    Sanjay Misra

  4. University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Chiara Garau

  5. University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Ivan Blečić

  6. Clayton School of Information Technology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    David Taniar

  7. Department of Information Science, Kyushu Sangyo University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Bernady O. Apduhan

  8. University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Ana Maria A. C. Rocha

  9. Polytechnic University of Bari, Bari, Italy

    Eufemia Tarantino

  10. Polytechnic University of Bari, Bari, Italy

    Carmelo Maria Torre

  11. Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

    Yeliz Karaca

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Annunziata, A., Garau, C. (2020). A Literature Review on Walkability and its Theoretical Framework. Emerging Perspectives for Research Developments. In: Gervasi, O., et al. Computational Science and Its Applications – ICCSA 2020. ICCSA 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12255. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58820-5_32

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58820-5_32

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