Our Digital Cities team has developed a Walkability Tool that provides insight into the walkability of all neighborhoods and streets in the Netherlands. The tool not only assesses how walkable an area is, but also shows why a street or neighborhood gets a certain score and where there are opportunities for improvement.
Pedability as a cornerstone of a healthy mobility transition
Everyone is a pedestrian: every journey begins and ends on foot. Walkability contributes to healthy, sustainable and livable cities. Walkable environments encourage active mobility, reduce emissions, increase safety and enhance the social and spatial quality of neighborhoods.
For us, walkability is a design choice about how we want to use space, and a necessary condition for a healthy city. With the Walkability Tool, we make this aspect of urban development concrete and measurable.
What the Walkability Tool enables
The tool supports the complete process from analysis to design:
- Analysis: assessing the walkability of any street or neighborhood in the Netherlands
- Insights: understanding why a location receives a particular score
- Strategy: determining where interventions have the most impact
- Design: scenario modeling to explore the impact of design choices on walkability
Walkable cities with data
The tool analyzes the walkability of all streets and neighborhoods in the Netherlands based on 16 indicators, divided into three themes:
Morphology (a.o. density, structure, network)
Quality of life (o.a. amenities, stimulating routes, greenery, air quality)
Safety (a. crossability, traffic safety, sightlines)
The indicators are combined into a single walkability score for each street or neighborhood. The structure of these indicators makes it clear which factors contribute positively and where improvements can be made.
Indicators and weightings can be adjusted or expanded when a client wants to include specific questions or datasets. In this way, the tool can be accurately tailored to an area or policy task.
Example: key indicator sidewalk width in Arnhem
One of the key indicators is sidewalk width. Wide sidewalks increase comfort and safety, provide space for encounters and prevent pedestrians from swerve into the roadway. Especially in high pedestrian traffic areas, this is a determining factor in the quality of the walking experience.
The Walkability Tool in the DMI Marketplace
The Walkability Tool is available via the DMI marketplace. The DMI (Dutch Metropolitan Innovations)-ecosystem is a national collaboration program in which governments, knowledge institutions, and companies work on data and digital solutions for mobility and urban development. Within this program, marketplaces have been set up where participants can share and use data, tools, and services. The Walkability Tool is included in the Products and Services Catalog (PDC): an overview where all participants have access to the full range of offerings, regardless of which marketplace they participate in. For DMI partners, the Walkability Tool Viewer and GIS datasets are available as DMI-Common in the PDC.
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