REDEFINING PLACE FOR WALKING: A LITERATURE REVIEW AND KEY-ELEMENTS CONCEPTION

Walking is the very basic method of urban mobility. It was the most reliable method of commuting for the citizen until the phenomenon of urban sprawl arrived. The technology development on motorised vehicle has since then successfully replaced walking amongst the citizen. However it also generated worldwide environmental issues. Therefore many studies had already been conducted to acknowledge and re-introduce the contribution of walking in sustainable urban development. For this study, authors conducted extensive literature review of 45 scientific research papers. As a result, authors identified 3 (three) key-elements and introduced them as PLACE: Profile, Activity, and Environment, of the pedestrian. The Pedestrian Profile is defined as a combination of the following key-attributes: age; financial income; physical condition; gender; mobility choice; employment and education background; social cultural capital; pedestrian type; and public transportation usage. The Pedestrian Activity is defined by the key-attributes as follow: walking-related purposes; social interaction; walking intensity; walking habits; and transport modes interaction. Then the Pedestrian Environment is defined by the key-attributes of: spatial planning features; walk-ability; neighbourhood liveability; traffic safety; pedestrian facilities (hard elements); pedestrian facilities (soft elements); and environmental quality. Based on this, authors suggest that those key-elements and their key-attributes need to be carefully addressed in the planning process of a walk-able urban environment.