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CoolWalks for active mobility in urban street networks
Henrik Wolf1,2, Ane Rahbek Vierø1, Michael Szell3,4,5
1NEtwoRks, Data and Society (NERDS), Data Science Section, IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, 2300, Denmark.
Scientific Reports
|April 28, 2025
Summary
Shaded walking offers sustainable urban mobility, but its potential is unclear. This study introduces the CoolWalkability metric, revealing how urban geometry significantly impacts shade availability for pedestrians.
Area of Science:
- Urban Planning
- Environmental Science
- Sustainable Mobility
Background:
- Walking is a sustainable urban transport mode.
- Increasing global temperatures and sun exposure negatively impact pedestrian comfort and health.
- Building-provided shade offers potential cooling and protection for pedestrians.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the potential for shaded walking in urban environments.
- To introduce and define the CoolWalkability metric.
- To analyze the influence of urban geometry on shade availability for pedestrians.
Main Methods:
- Utilized building footprints and street networks from synthetic and real cities.
- Developed a route choice model incorporating a sun avoidance parameter (α).
- Defined the CoolWalkability metric to assess shaded walking opportunities.
Main Results:
- On regular grids with uniform building heights, CoolWalkability is independent of the sun avoidance parameter.
- Variations in street geometry and building heights create significant shade benefits.
- Shaded routing potential varies between grid-like and irregular networks and is sensitive to network geometry.
Conclusions:
- Building shade offers potential for cooler, active travel.
- Urban geometry critically influences the availability of shaded walking routes.
- This research is a foundational step towards understanding shade provision for sustainable urban mobility.
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