Walkability | Planetizen Courses

Walkability is the ability to safely walk between homes and businesses, transit stations, and other amenities in a reasonably short amount of time. Promoting walkable neighborhoods and cities reduces the need for personal vehicles and carbon emissions, gives citizens more freedom to access services and businesses, and encourages high-density infill development that makes use of existing resources and infrastructure. Planners can promote walkable design by incentivizing infill, eliminating parking requirements, and investing in robust public transit and mixed-use development that puts businesses closer to where their customers live and work.

Walkability Courses

pedestrians walking in city

Beyond Complete Streets for Walking and Biking

54 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

fingerboard sign

Designing a Wayfinding System

58 Mins

CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM

crosswalk intersection painted with rainbow colors

Tactical Urbanism: How It's Done

96 Mins

AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

aerial of downtown colorado springs

Incremental Code Reform: Enabling Better Places

Lynn Richards, Susan Henderson

59 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

Cityscape view of buildings, roads, highways, and sea

Decking Highways: Reconnecting Communities

51 Mins

CIP
AICP CM

downtown salt lake city skyline

Form-Based Codes 101: Downtowns

Mary Madden, Victor Dover

66 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
LA CES

two elderly people crossing the street

The Pedestrian Safety Crisis in the U.S.

53 Mins

AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

person getting on bus for urban planning course

Transit Planning: The First/Last Mile

83 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

Findlay market on a colorful street in Ohio.

Landscape Design for Social Sustainability, Part 1

Kristin Faurest

57 Mins

CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM

bicyclists cross bridge in park with houston skyline in background

Greening the Neighborhood: An Introduction to LEED-ND

51 Mins

AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

people sitting in outdoor plaza

The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces

60 Mins

SACPLAN CPD

pedestrian on path next to bikeshare

Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

79 Mins

CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM

black and white image aerial of suburban homes

The Story of Sprawl

163 Mins

people sitting inside a New York subway car

Women and Cities 4: Gender Equity in the Public Sphere

Katrina Johnston-Zimmerman

55 Mins

CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

high tech bus in intersection for urban planning course

Introduction to New Mobility

77 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

A busy street in Vienna, Austria.

Landscape Design for Social Sustainability, Part 2

Kristin Faurest

53 Mins

CIP
AICP CM

park with city skyline in background

Greening the Neighborhood: Accelerating Sustainability with LEED-ND

52 Mins

AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

busy street with cars and pedestrians in India

The Human Scale

81 Mins

AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

Construction inside a large two-story mall.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

48 Mins

CIP
AICP CM

aerial view of suburban homes

The Story of Sprawl - With Commentary Tracks

143 Mins

pedestrians and bicyclist in helsinki

Women and Cities 5: The Feminist Future City

Katrina Johnston-Zimmerman

59 Mins

CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

cars and buses on busy street with metro train in background

Transportation Planning: The Role of Transportation Systems in Social and Economic Life

Richard Willson

47 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

Train in City

Introduction to Transit Service Policy

105 Mins

CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM

exterior of leed building

Greening the Neighborhood: LEED-ND Core Concepts

29 Mins

AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

Top Walkability Instructors

David Dixon

David is well known for helping create new, mixed-use urban districts (in both cities and suburbs)...

Richard Willson

Richard Willson is a professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at California State...

Jeff Speck

Jeff Speck is a city planner who advocates internationally for more walkable cities.

Eliot Allen

Eliot Allen, certified, LEED AP-ND, is an urban planner and Principal with Criterion Planners of Portland...

Mark David Major

Dr. Mark David Major, AICP, CNU-A is a Professor of Urban Design at the Savannah College...

Lennart Nout

Lennart is an urban mobility design consultant, specializing in design and planning of bicycle networks and...

Kristin Faurest

Kristin Faurest is a public garden education and outreach professional, author, and landscape architecture educator, committed...

Adam Fine

Adam is the Director of experiential graphic design at Nova Scotia-based Fathom Studio and has worked...

Geoffrey Ferrell

Geoffrey is one of the originators of the modern practice of Form-Based Codes. His work ranges...

Jarrett Walker

Jarrett Walker is an international consultant in public transit network design and policy, with 25 years...

John Hersey

John is a planner with two decades of experience critically evaluating and advancing transit-oriented development as...

Katrina Johnston-Zimmerman

Katrina is a lecturer, researcher, and advocate for heart-centered cities. Her work focuses on human behavior...

Donald Shoup

Donald Shoup is Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Urban Planning at UCLA. His research...

Lisa Nisenson

Lisa Nisenson has 20 years of experience and leadership in smart growth, sustainable development and civic...

Daniel Parolek

Daniel Parolek is a nationally recognized thought leader in architecture, design, and urban planning, specifically in...

Victor Dover

Victor Dover is a town planner and urban designer with 29 years of leadership in the...

Mary Madden

Mary Madden has nearly 20 years of experience in the fields of urban planning and design...

Tim Halbur

Tim Halbur is communications director for the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), the leading organization...

Mike Lydon

Mike Lydon is a Principal of The Street Plans Collaborative.

Thomas Hamed

Thomas Hamed, AICP is a transportation planner who specializes in commuter transportation and mobility for all...

Jonathan Katz-Ouziel

Jonathan Katz-Ouziel is an autistic planner, an independent accessibility consultant, and the founder of Opossum House...

Angie Schmitt

Angie Schmitt is a writer and founder of 3MPH Planning and Consulting, a Cleveland-based firm focused...

Lance Freeman

Lance Freeman is a Professor in the Urban Planning Program at Columbia University in New York...

Dave Amos

Dave is an Assistant Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cal Poly...

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All Walkability Courses

Digital Accessibility for Planners: Documents - Part 1

Instructor: Jonathan Katz-Ouziel

By the end of this course, planners will be able to address common access barriers in documents they produce. The first course will provide an introduction to the topic and initial skills, while the second course will dive into more "advanced" skills.

4.42

102 Mins

AIA CES

AICP CM

What Is Generative AI and Why It Matters for Urban Planning

Instructor: Tom Sanchez

This course introduces urban planners to Generative AI (GenAI), covering its fundamentals and demonstrating how it can create text, images, videos, and designs to enhance planning practices.

4.37

61 Mins

CIP

AIA CES

AICP CM

Free