Walkability index: an approach to urban sustainable development (The case of District 16 of Tehran Municipality)

The development of the necessary infrastructure to enhance the walkability in urban areas has an important role in sustainable urban development and from various aspects of the environment, public health and social justice can improve the quality of life. This study aimed to investigate the pedestrian capability approach for the development of a sustainable city in District 16 of Tehran Municipality as one of the greenest urban areas in Tehran.

In this research, the criteria, qualities, characteristics and physical, functional and spatial variables of the man-made environment that affect the amount of walking in the D16 of Tehran Municipality have been studied and collected. Then, using GIS spatial analysis and prioritization of indicators using Analytical Hierarchical Process, the pedestrianization of different parts of the region has been investigated.

Criteria affecting the location of sidewalks and greenways in the D16 in 9 main categories and 30 sub-criteria were collected in a hierarchical structure and their spatial information was collected. The diversity and wide range of indicators evaluated results in a comprehensive analysis of the current situation can be considered as one of the strengths of this study. Each of these indicators was analyzed for the study area and the situation of walking potential in the D16 was studied based on each of the indicators. Using the preference of criteria based on the opinion of experts and the overlap of different layers, finally, the map of the degree of walkability and the map of the degree of the walkability of the road network in the 16th district of Tehran Municipality was obtained. According to the results, the spatial value shows the highest values ​​in Khazaneh, Naziabad and Bagh Azari neighborhoods, respectively. In addition, Bukharai Street, Madaen Street, Rajaei Street and Street next to Besat Park are the axes with the highest amount of pedestrian traffic in the region, respectively.

Based on detailed traffic studies, the best places to define sidewalks or urban greenways were identified, and since these axes have a high volume of pedestrian traffic, it is very important to pay attention to the needs of pedestrians in them. The three neighborhoods of Naziabad, Aliabad North and Khazaneh were identified as three suitable areas for the development of pedestrian axes in the region and were introduced to further concentrate the municipality of the region.