‘You Feel Unusual Walking’: The Invisible Presence of Walking in Four English Cities

Walking is widely recognized as good for health and for the environment, yet many short journeys in urban areas continue to be undertaken by car. This paper draws on research from a large multi-method project to analyze the factors that limit walking for everyday travel. It is argued that although most people see walking in a positive light, and almost everyone walks on some occasions, as an activity it remains barely visible within society, and is rarely recognized in the planning of urban infrastructure. This research shows that under current urban conditions constraints imposed by family and life-style factors, perceptions of safety and convenience, and expectations about what means of everyday travel are normal severely restrict levels of walking for many people. The authors argue that while low levels of walking for particular purposes, especially leisure and health, are common and expected, walking is rarely seen as a visible or viable form of everyday transport. To step outside of these norms of expectation by walking more is constructed as unusual behavior, and the fact that a substantial amount of walking does take place on urban streets is barely acknowledged. The authors argue that there is a need to recognize fully the walking that exists, and to plan more effectively to accommodate pedestrians so that walking is perceived as an expected way of moving around urban areas.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2014.07.003
• Record URL:
  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214140514000516
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/22141405
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Pooley, Colin G
  • Horton, Dave
  • Scheldeman, Griet
  • Mullen, Caroline
  • Jones, Tim
  • Tight, Miles
• Publication Date: 2014-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: References;
• Pagination: pp 260-266
• Serial:
  • Journal of Transport & Health
  • Volume: 1
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 2214-1405
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/22141405

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Attitudes; Nonmotorized transportation; Pedestrians; Psychological aspects; Social factors; Travel behavior; Urban areas; Walking
• Subject Areas: Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I70: Traffic and Transport;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01549236
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 29 2014 2:16PM