Improving the walkability for next-generation cities and territories, through the reuse of available data and raster analyses

The walkability of the city has been the subject of consideration for at least fifteen years, but today it is certainly in evidence for many reasons. Among these, its global relevance for liveable, healthy and resilient cities. This is why it requires a clear operational objective, in order to support the different subjects involved in the city policies and planning. The contribution proposes a two-level reasoning. At the city level, the goal is to recognize the parts where actions aimed at improving walkability can be more effective. The second level is more detailed: lacking pedestrian paths’ specific graphs, the urban space is modelled considering a series of criteria and an “impedance” has been assigned to each cell (i.e., the cost of travelling the cell on foot). This approach is applied to the city of Torino (Italy), but it is largely generalizable. The elaborations are seen as an aid to stakeholders to reason on “walkability” and to compare different points of view in an explicit and articulated way.