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

collage of images with families, a crowded sidewalk, and a farmer's market

Defining Neighborhoods

54 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

car-free modern condominiums

Walking Towards Inclusion

41 Mins

AICP CM

tree lined neighborhood

Form-Based Codes 101: Learning How To Look

Geoffrey Ferrell

71 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A

cars parked along curb in Old Town Pasadena California

Parking Benefit Districts

56 Mins

CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

Image of International Symbol of Access next to weighing scales

US Disability Access Laws for Planners

Jonathan Katz-Ouziel, Thomas Hamed

109 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM

aerial view of new york city

The American City, Part 4: Complexity and Pattern in the City

Mark David Major

53 Mins

AIA CES

a row of three suburban homes

Just Suburbs: The New Frontier for Equity and Inclusion

56 Mins

CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

map showing walkability created in arcmap

GIS Walkability Modeling

Steph A. Nelson

46 Mins

SACPLAN CPD

aerial view of houston freeways

Transportation Planning: Making Transportation Plans—Rationality and Politics

Richard Willson

60 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

Dutch auto-te-gast street with windmill in background

Good Speed by Design: A Network Approach to Traffic Calming

58 Mins

CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM

frontal view of different colored apartments lined on street

Form-Based Codes 101: Neighborhoods

Geoffrey Ferrell, Daniel Parolek

68 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
LA CES

book cover for Right of Way

Right of Way: How Racial and Class Disparities Created a Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths

96 Mins

CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

transit route designed using remix transit planning platform for urban planning course

Transit Service Design 101

Emily Yasukochi

52 Mins

AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD

people viewing wayfinding map

Planning a Municipal Wayfinding System

57 Mins

CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM

title graphic reads "tactical urbanism"

Tactical Urbanism: An Introduction

81 Mins

AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

freeway with Dallas skyline in background

Transportation Planning: Principles and Practices of Transportation Finance

Richard Willson

62 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
SACPLAN CPD

Woonerf street in Dutch neighborhood

The Good Street: A New Methodology for Balancing Place and Flow

55 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM

street with buildings and trees

Form-Based Codes 101: Corridors

Geoffrey Ferrell, Kaizer Rangwala

55 Mins

AIA CES
AICP CM
CNU-A
LA CES

examples of universal design which include bus stop sign with large letters, public transit space for wheelchair bound people

Planning for Universal Design

46 Mins

CIP
AICP CM

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

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

Form-Based Codes 101: Corridors

Instructor: Geoffrey Ferrell

Corridors have historically been a key element of the urban fabric of every American town and city, yet they are also commonly problematic. This course looks at the roots of the problem for examples of how corridors can be designed and coded.

4.25

55 Mins

AIA CES

AICP CM

CNU-A

LA CES

Urban Design for Planners 8: Parking and Traffic

Instructor: Emily Talen

The final course in the Urban Design for Planners series addresses the automobile as part of the urban fabric. The storage of cars and high levels of congestion can be very detrimental to neighborhoods, but good design can mitigate those negative effects.

4.20

90 Mins

AICP CM

CNU-A

LA CES