A Literature Review on Walkability and its Theoretical Framework. Emerging Perspectives for Research Developments

Urbanization identifies the contemporary city as the crucible of human condition. This tendency elicits the issue of the ways in which the built environment affects human behaviour. In particular, walking emerges as a central topic. Walking, in fact, is conceptualized as a vector for engaging with the world, and as a conduit to physical activity, social contact and optional practices. Consequently, a vast body of literature exists, related to the concept of walkability. The latter can be defined as the built environment potential to affect people’s propensity to walk to different destinations and for different purposes. This study, through a comprehensive literature review investigates four concepts: capability; affordance; configuration and Urban ethics. These concepts embody four central dimensions of the research on walkability: arguments for investigating walkability; conceptualization of person-environment transactions; methodologies and ethical implications. The aim of this study, thus, is to individuate the theoretical framework for a precise understanding of the impact of the built environment on human behaviour and to underline perspectives for the further development of the research on walkability.