Planning cities of proximity: Evaluating active mobility in specialized urban enclaves

The planning of networks for walking and cycling has gained significant attention due to its potential for sustainable urban transportation and community well-being in cities. Over the past 10-15 years, there has been a notable surge of research on the integration of spatial planning and transport planning. Several scholars have explored methodological approaches to evaluate accessibility, especially within active mobility. This growing interest suggests the need for a paradigm shift towards sustainable mobility, emphasising the reduction of car dependency in favour of shared and active modes of transport. Within this context, the presented research focuses on potential criteria, policies, and actions to enhance urban space accessibility through active mobility, especially for fragile users, while also addressing climate change issues and ecological footprint improvement. The research is framed within the “Sustainable Mobility Center (Centro Nazionale per la Mobilità Sostenibile – CNMS)” funded by the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) with EU funding (Next Generation EU). The research focuses on the refinement of a micro-scale GIS-based assessment protocol for walkability in specialised urban enclaves, as university campuses. The protocol is based on a set of indicators founded on principles of accessibility, safety, security, inclusive design, and enjoyment, with the purpose of assessing active mobility and adaptability of urban spaces through a comprehensive and holistic lens. The focus is on suburban campuses resulting from urban sprawl and mostly relying on private motorized mobility. These enclaves serve as pivotal hubs, drawing substantial flows of people daily (students, staff or other general city users). Therefore, evaluating the performance of infrastructure and spaces for active mobility becomes crucial to promote improvement interventions and thus promote more sustainable and affordable modes of transportation. The expected results of the research are possible scenarios for regenerating public spaces to make them flexible and responsive to the needs of the local community, while also envisioning a reduction in the use of motorised vehicles, in line with the concept of the "post-car city." The scenarios will support the development of guidelines for reducing the dominance of car traffic and retrofitting spaces (e.g., parking lots) into spaces for social interaction or ecological amenities. The first relevant research outcome consists of the protocol application on a pilot case study, Parma University Campus (Italy), in collaboration with other researchers studying pedestrian flows consistency and distribution. This collaboration resulted in the mapping of critical issues along the pedestrian network, pinpointing possible intervention priorities. This analysis reveals additional insights into the relationship between active mobility infrastructure characteristics and people's route choices for walking. Future developments in the research activity will lead to testing the replicability and scalability of the protocol, planning to refine a useful decision support tool for local authorities and companies involved in urban retrofit and regeneration.