A Comparison Study between Objective and Subjective Measurement of Walkability in Three Neighbourhoods of Rome-Italy

Although walkability is a long-studied concept, case studies on comparative analyses assessing it in different districts in the same city do not abound, and few are those where the comparison includes simultaneously historic, consolidated and recent areas, each with a variety of urban and social environments. Among these, there is the case of a field research in Rome, Italy, where the quality of walking was assessed considering different urban environments in three districts (historic San Saba, modern Sacco Pastore, and contemporary Tufello), each with its own varied supply of walking infrastructure, accessibility, building stock, population density, vegetation quality, and dominant residential functions. The purpose of the study was to quantify walkability in such diverse built environments and highlight factors needed to create pedestrian realms, including the quality of the built environment (supposedly superior in historic San Saba), the residents’ perception of the walkable environment (apparently poor in recently-developed Tufello) and the available walkable infrastructure supply (theoretically appropriate in Sacco Pastore). A comprehensive scientific literature review on walkability was the prerequisite to develop the assessment method which had to include a number of suitable walkability indicators (consistent with the different urban features), a feasible data collection process (through a mix of surveys, measurements and interviews), and a suitable calculation procedure. The resulting method, described in the paper, enables a multi-category assessment, thus evaluating walkability in terms of accessibility, comfort, safety and security, attractiveness, according to objective and subjective measurement results. Results showed that some well-known common factors might certainly affect how and where people walk (safety and security, for example), but also debunked the myth that some others are really crucial to increase walking, typically premium-value built environments. Such results are analyzed and commented on, with the objective of advancing knowledge to inform further research studies in the field of walkability.