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Architecture vocabulary · Urban Planning and Design

Walkability

Meaning in architecture, with examples

/ˌwɔːkəˈbɪləti/nounCommon term

In architecture, walkability means: How easy, safe and pleasant it is to walk around an area, depending on things like pavement width, shade, crossings, street life and distance to daily needs.

In Turkish: yürünebilirlik

How it is used

A key idea in urban design and planning reports. Designers improve, measure or increase walkability; in a walkable neighbourhood, residents can reach shops, schools and public transport on foot, often within 10 to 15 minutes.

Example sentences

  1. Wider pavements and street trees improved the walkability of the high street.

  2. Walkability was one of the main criteria in the master plan competition.

Common collocations

  • improve walkability
  • walkable neighbourhood
  • walkability score
  • pedestrian-friendly
  • public spaceSpace that is open and accessible to everyone, such as streets, squares, parks, waterfronts and the public areas of civic buildings.
  • mixed-useDescribing a building or area that combines different uses, such as housing, shops, offices and public facilities, instead of keeping them separate.
  • human scaleThe quality of buildings and spaces whose size and details relate comfortably to the human body, so that people feel at ease rather than small or lost.
  • urban sprawlThe uncontrolled spread of low-density development, such as housing estates, shopping malls and roads, into the countryside around a city.
  • densityHow much building, or how many homes or people, there is on a given area of land, often measured in dwellings or people per hectare.

More terms: Urban Planning and Design

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