Walking for Sustainable Cities: Factors Affecting Users’ Willingness to Walk

In the context of urban sustainability, promoting pedestrian travel is fundamental. Residents’ needs are critical to creating truly pedestrian-friendly streets. The objective of this study was to answer the following questions: What aspects most increase the willingness of citizens to walk? Is the extent to which these aspects are prioritized related to the context in which citizens move on a daily basis? Two linked surveys, conducted through the institutional website of the Department of Civil Engineering and Architectural of the University of Catania, allowed the inclusion of more than 1000 respondents residing in the metropolitan areas of eastern Sicily. The large database was first reduced using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and then statistically processed using Path Analysis. Thus, it was found that in the residential areas of the respondents that were not very “pedestrian friendly”, the macro factors of “safety”, “comfort”, and “quality” of pedestrian infrastructures were equally desirable for citizens to adapt to the existing pedestrian routes and thus promote walking. On the other hand, the “attractiveness” of the urban environment as a whole was a non-statistically significant variable for residents’ decision to walk. These results are not valid for every urban context, but the method used is generalizable and applicable in any urban setting. If the quality, safety, and comfort of pedestrian infrastructure results are important, urban planning should prioritize the provision of safe and accessible sidewalks, crosswalks, and pedestrian streets. Furthermore, if the attractiveness of a neighborhood result is significant, urban design and planning should go beyond functional requirements and also focus on creating a vibrant and livable urban environment.