Combined Use of a Few Different Methods in Measuring the Walkability Potential of Urban Pathways

Walkability has a vital role in identification of space identity and understanding of environment quality, and for this reason it has attracted multiple theoreticians. Given the recent attempts of planners and designers for the encourage people to walk, several models and methods are provided to measure the walkability potential. But, each one only considers certain aspects of the pathways. The lack of comprehensiveness methods led to conducting this study in which a few methods and models such as, Space Syntax, SPACES, Pedestrian Discomfort, and PAWDEX method indices are combined together to provide a rather comprehensive method in assessment of the walkability which can be used in case studies. For this purpose, at first, the main pathways in BagheFerdos and Zaeferanie districts are studied (the case studies in this article) through the method of Space Syntax and then the elected pathway in each district is assessed based on the three other methods. Based on the Space Syntax theory, the sequence of spaces positioning next to each other has a direct impact on the way of using a particular space. According to the final obtained scores, the walkability potential of Fayazi street (the elected street in Baghe Ferdos district) is found to be more than Asef street (the elected street in Baghe Zaferanieh district). Each street requires its design advancement and unique planning. At the end of the article, some approaches are provided to achieve this goal.