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
Emily Talen
54 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • SACPLAN CPD
car-free modern condominiums
Walking Towards Inclusion
David Dixon
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
Donald Shoup
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
David Dixon
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
Lennart Nout
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
Adam Fine
57 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
title graphic reads "tactical urbanism"
Tactical Urbanism: An Introduction
Mike Lydon
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
Lennart Nout
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
Lance Freeman
46 Mins
  • CIP
  • AICP CM
pedestrians walking in city
Beyond Complete Streets for Walking and Biking
William Riggs
54 Mins
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
  • CNU-A
  • SACPLAN CPD
fingerboard sign
Designing a Wayfinding System
Adam Fine
58 Mins
  • CIP
  • AIA CES
  • AICP CM
crosswalk intersection painted with rainbow colors
Tactical Urbanism: How It's Done
Mike Lydon
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
David Dixon
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)...

VIEW COURSES
Richard Willson

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

VIEW COURSES
Jeff Speck

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

VIEW COURSES
Eliot Allen

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

VIEW COURSES
Mark David Major

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

VIEW COURSES
Lennart Nout

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

VIEW COURSES
Kristin Faurest

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

VIEW COURSES
Adam Fine

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

VIEW COURSES
Geoffrey Ferrell

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

VIEW COURSES
Jarrett Walker

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

VIEW COURSES
John Hersey

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

VIEW COURSES
Katrina Johnston-Zimmerman

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

VIEW COURSES
Donald Shoup

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

VIEW COURSES
Lisa Nisenson

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

VIEW COURSES
Daniel Parolek

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

VIEW COURSES
Victor Dover

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

VIEW COURSES
Mary Madden

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

VIEW COURSES
Tim Halbur

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

VIEW COURSES
Mike Lydon

Mike Lydon is a Principal of The Street Plans Collaborative.

VIEW COURSES
Thomas Hamed

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

VIEW COURSES
Jonathan Katz-Ouziel

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

VIEW COURSES
Angie Schmitt

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

VIEW COURSES
Lance Freeman

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

VIEW COURSES
Dave Amos

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

VIEW COURSES

Related Topics

SEARCH MORE TOPICS BELOW

Master Urban Planning Skills With A Planetizen Courses Subscription.

Sign up
Computer

High quality video lessons developed by experts.

Analytics

Complete course work to receive a certificate from Planetizen.

Certificate

Test your comprehension with course quizzes.

Cloud

Access reading lists, articles, and other materials prepared by instructors.

All Walkability Courses

Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

Instructor: Jeff Speck

Jeff Speck explains his five principal reasons for building more walkable places — Economics, the Environment, Public Health, Equity, and Social Cohesiveness — arming practitioners with a full range of arguments in favor of pro-walkability planning.

4.53
79 Mins
CIP
AIA CES
AICP CM
Free
The Future of Cities After COVID-19

The Future of Cities After COVID-19

Instructor: James Brasuell

This virtual panel discussion focuses on the potential for the COVID-19 pandemic to influence the development, demographic, and environmental trends of the future. Speakers: Allison Arieff, William Fulton, Scott Frazier, and Mariela Alfonzo. Moderator: James Brasuell.

4.14
57 Mins
AICP CM
SACPLAN CPD
Free
Regional Planning Workflows in the UrbanSim Cloud Platform

Regional Planning Workflows in the UrbanSim Cloud Platform

Instructor: Sam Blanchard

This course reviews the basic land use forecasting workflows that can be completed using the UrbanSim Cloud Platform, as illustrated by a set of case studies.

4.29
57 Mins
Free

Topic

Course Filter

Popular (1) ‌
Free (3) ‌

Credit

Closed Caption

English (1) ‌