How to assess walkability as a measure of pedestrian use: First step of a multi-methodological approach

One of the most important problems to face over the past thirty years is how to make cities sustainable and resilient, with the overall changes that are affecting cities, resulting from the constant urbanization of the current century. In this perspective, designing walking networks is important to create a functional and multi-modal city in transport choices and make urban settlements sustainable and inclusive, because a sustainable city is also a walkable city. This is what the UN also aims for, among other topics, in its SDGs’ 2030 Agenda. Despite the positive impact of walkability on public space, it is still difficult fully include it in government strategies, because of its novelty in the scientific debate. This paper has a double purpose: (i) to argue the problem, related to what trends and strategies have been implemented to face it; (ii) to investigate in depth walkability, understanding its definition in the scientific panorama, how is evaluated and how its evaluation could be useful in urban transformation processes.