VREF FUNDED RESEARCH

Watch Research Forum on methodologies for researching and exploring walkability

This Recording is from the online Walking Research Forum, held 22 May 2024, where we focused on: Methodologies for researching and exploring walkability Studies on the relationship between the built environment and walking behaviour – often called walkability – have in recent years grown into a field of its own. Within this field, a group

Investigating young men’s experiences of walking in secondary cities: A comparative study of walking in South Africa and the United Kingdom

WK-2023-EP-01Projoect Leader: Prof. Gina PorterDept of Anthropology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, UK. Partners: Abstract This proposal builds on our novel exploratory research in EP-2022-WK-01, which investigated an initial hypothesis that many young men walk city streets with considerable trepidation when travelling between home and public transport. That study constituted the first mobilities study purely

Using a Peer Research Methodology to Investigate Children’s Mobility Challenges in Secondary Cities in Ghana and Liberia: A Comparative Study of Cape Coast and Ganta

(WK-2023-EP-2)Project Leader: Jack JenkinsDept of Anthropology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, UK. Partners: Abstract This project investigates children’s daily mobility challenges in two secondary cites in West Africa – Cape Coast, Ghana and Ganta, Liberia. Using participatory peer research methods, children aged 9-18 will be trained as co-researchers to explore children’s walking experiences in growing

Walking and Freight Delivery Operations. Contrasting Space-Sharing Conflicts in Two Cities Within the Global South and North

WK-2023-EP-05 Project Leader: Catherine Waithera GateriKenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya. Partners: Abstract: Streets are contested public spaces due to the multiple users vying for access. Tensions between different transport modes in the use of street space are referred to as space-sharing conflicts. These conflicts arise from decisions, or the lack thereof, on by whom, how, and when street

Long-distance walking: a wildcard of mobility futures?

WK-2023-EP-07Farzaneh BahramiUrban Design and Mobility, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen, Netherlands Partners: Abstract: Walking as a mode of transport is important but generally considered as a shorter-distance solution, logic built into urban form, transport systems and related policies. This is limiting. Long-distance walking occurs and is significant for sustainable mobility futures. However, it

Work-walks and walkscapes: Women domestic workers’ lived experiences and contexts of mobility in Lima and Mumbai

WK-2023-EP-06Project Leader: Burte Himanshu Centre for Urban Science and Engineering (CUSE), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-B) Powai, Mumbai, India. Partners: Abstract: Walking practices are understudied in general, but qualitative understanding of the walking practices related to work – walking to, or for work – is especially weak in the literature. Northern contexts predominate in walking studies,

Inequality in Walking the 24 hour city: temporality, intersectionality and the embodied experience in Dar es Salaam, Tshwane and Cardiff

WK-2023-EP-03Project Leader: Margot RubinsSpatial Planning, School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University, UK Partners: Abstract: Walking as a mode of transport is unequally accessed and experienced. Intersectional factors of identity such as race, class, ethnicity and gender, to name a few, influence the ways in which walking is practiced and how different people navigate and

Walking across borders: exploring challenges to walkability in the Global South

WK-2023-EP-08Project Leader: Joseph FerreiraDept of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA, Partners: Abstract: Climate change and public health concerns are increasingly necessitating more attention to non-auto modes of transport. By improving walking infrastructure and enhancing the pedestrian experience, we can not only increase walking trips but also transit ridership. The literature

From accessibility measures to the understanding of walkability

WK-2023-EP-04Project Leader: Juan Pablo Ospina ZapataSchool of Applied Sciences and Engineering, Universidad EAFIT, Colombia. Partners: Abstract: In many cities in the Global South, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), urban planning often suffers from inequalities and segregation in land use and population distribution. Additionally, while accessibility measurement has advanced in other contexts, many