What makes a walkable place?
By Belinda Mackay, Queensland Walks Board member.
We reckon a walkable place is a liveable place. But how do you make a place walkable, you might ask?
To help out with this, we’ve identified 9 key elements that work together to create safe and inclusive environments for walking that anyone would want to live in.
- Maintained footpaths,
- Safe and accessible crossings,
- Legible connections,
- Directional Signage
- Protection, providing shade and shelter
- Safety
- Amenity
- Accessibility for all, and
- Community.
Want to know more about each of these? Well luckily, here’s our post which illustrates the important role each of these elements plays, and the value they can bring to local places.
How does your neighbourhood rate in providing you with these elements? Are there opportunities to improve on them?
Creating walkable places, whether it’s a street, neighbourhood or precinct relies on a combination of key elements that work together to support safe, inclusive and enjoyable walking experiences. The nine essential elements include: footpaths, crossings, connections, direction, protection, safety, amenity, accessibility and community.
Queensland Walkshops
A QWalkshop (Walkshop) is a walking workshop; part stroll, part strategy session. Walkshops are designed to assist communities, councils, community organisations and others see streets differently, from the ground up!
Instead of sitting in a room, we head outside and explore a place together, noticing what works, what doesn’t and what could change to make places more walkable.
