Before COVID-19, we freely used lively streets and public spaces. The pandemic emptied them and changed how people perceived urban life. Places once full of joy became empty and fearful. Our study examines COVID-19’s impact on three key dimensions of urban design and offers lessons for building healthier, more resilient cities.
This pioneering study on healthy and sustainable indicators for Jakarta is the first in Indonesia to use the Global Healthy and Sustainable City Indicators framework. As the most populous city in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, Jakarta’s inclusion provides valuable insights into its status compared to 25 international cities. We offer a critical perspective on existing spatial indicators, highlighting the need for precise definitions and careful interpretation within the city’s local context. Additionally, we propose new indicators to help policymakers and public health officials develop more adaptable measures for urban health and sustainability.
Our study explores how residents in Lagos and Yaoundé use roads, vacant lots, squares, and parks for running, walking, and other leisure-time physical activities. It reveals striking sex-based differences in perceived safety and risk, offering evidence to guide inclusive urban planning.
Experts agree that the planning of public space in light of new active mobility trends and policies has not properly taken into account the active aging policies and the context of older people as users, especially in the construction of a barrier-free and safe environment. Only through the alignment of active mobility and active ageing policies is it possible to respond to the needs and to include people of all ages
Exploring complete streets implementation in knowledge production territories, this research examines the potentials and limitations of using campuses as living labs, applying tactical urbanism. It identifies the opportunities for enhancing walkability and inclusivity and the challenges, e.g. regulatory issues and limited funding, stressing the role of governance and community engagement.
Our study is meant as a provocation for planners to “start walking again” and understand sites, places, and context by observing and listening. Walking is a way to collect diverse stakeholders’ insights and expands a vision. Walking is a cry for sustainability.
Mental health needs are poorly understood in the development and management of public space. However, people recovering from health issues such as psychosis need to use city space in their everyday lives. We note that large sites in city centres continue to be made available. As such their redesign and management needs to factor in these broader needs. There will be further benefits to people with conditions such as anxiety, depression and autism.
This street matrix tool can be used by urban planners and other built professionals both to plan new streetscapes and also to assess exisiting streetscapes for improvement. Currently, in many global contexts, it is good practice to make areas accessible for all and complete street audits. Despite this, without background knowledge of visual impairment and other disabilities, it can be difficult to assess these challenges and provide adequate solutions. This street matrix makes this more accessible and easy to assess these areas.
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods are being introduced in UK cities to reduce motorised through-traffic in residential areas, create better conditions for walking, wheeling and cycling, and change the hierarchy of uses in public spaces. Existing evidence shows that schemes work and generate important public health benefits. However, the experiences of disabled people with these schemes have yet to be explored. This is important because public space and the built environment are important facilitators and barriers in the lives of disabled people.
Walking around the neighborhood is good for older adults health, but the way older adults perceive their surroundings can affect this behavior. This topic has been discussed for some time in high-income countries. There, it is observed that older adults who live in neighborhoods with high residential density, diverse land use, good road connectivity, access to public transport, pleasant aesthetics, security against crime and traffic, presence of recreational facilities, infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, green spaces and visible parts of the sky are more likely to walk, whether for utilitarian or recreational purposes. On the other hand, in Latin American countries such as Brazil, where there is a significant increase in the older adults population and challenges related to urbanization and social inequalities, the relationship between the characteristics perceived of neighborhoods by the older adults and walking behavior is still unknown.