Would You Walk Along This Path? Data-Driven Analysis and User Perceptions to Assess Walkability for Happy Cities

The growing emphasis on the urban quality of life has placed the promotion of walkability at the centre of discussions on people’s well-being. However, in contexts such us Italy, walking remains a marginal modal choice compared to private vehicle use. This phenomenon suggests that the quality of public spaces, where pedestrians move, may not fully meet users’ expectations and perceptions. This study proposes an integrated approach that investigates the relationship between objective assessments of urban walkability and the subjective perceptions expressed by users. The goal is to validate a systematic methodology for walkability assessment. Firstly, the authors verify the appropriateness of the selected indicators; secondly, whether user perceptions reflect the measured qualities. The study focuses on a defined area within the city of Parma, combining field-collected and remote data, and adopting two Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): the Safety and Security KPI and the Enjoyment KPI. Results are compared with the perceptions obtained by questionnaires submitted to a group of users. The analysis shows a general consistency between the walkability indicators and the subjective evaluations, although some discrepancies are highlighted. The findings support the validity of the proposed method for quality-oriented assessment of pedestrian spaces, even if with some criticalities related to sample size, selection of indicators and complexity of individual perceptions. Further research will expand the analysis using additional datasets to further validate the methodology for a comprehensive walkability assessment.