Does walkability lead to connectivity? Some potential limitations of smart growth

Julie Zook and Yi Lu and Karen Glanz and Craig Zimring, "Design and Pedestrianism in a Smart Growth Development," Environment and Behavior 44 (2012): 2

The take-away: This case study concerns an Atlanta, Georgia urban smart growth development designed for walkability. While the authors do identify 'urban liveliness' in some local street networks where the design has presumably promoted high pedestrian traffic, other parts of the development notably lack the same quality. Since pedestrians do not seem to be using the development to connect to surrounding areas--a finding that seems to contradict existing theories on the connection between environmental design and walking--the authors recommend that new, more precise theories on this connection be developed.

Total pedestrians counted along path segments. Note: Image and caption are excerpted from the article (Figure 5a, page 229).

Abstract

Research on urban walkability does not always make a clear distinction between design features supporting walkability and those leading to a sense of urban liveliness. Walkability, for this article’s purposes, entails the opportunity for continuous movement across some distance and therefore engages both the local and global street networks. Urban liveliness, by contrast, may exist in isolated pockets that provide limited support for physical activity. This case study of a large, urban smart growth development in Atlanta, Georgia, provides an example of a new development with characteristics that suggest a high degree of walkability. However, observational data show pedestrians are clumped on relatively few street segments rather than distributed throughout the site, indicating it is unlikely that the site is hosting much walking between the development and its surrounds. This descriptive case study is intended to contribute to more explicit theory of how environmental design contributes to walking. 

Full article (requires access)