Assessing the walkability of urban public space with GIS technology: The hidden dimensions of security and community heritage

This chapter assesses the methodological design, process and results from an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)-funded public health walk consultation in 2006, and evaluates the project’s outcomes in 2016 after ten years in operation. The consultation used an innovative application of Geographic Information Systems for Participation (GIS-P) to capture the views of local residents in the planning of the health walk in the Lower Kersal area of the city of Salford in Greater Manchester, one of the most socially and economically deprived areas in the UK. GIS-P was employed to engage stakeholders, including ‘hard-to-reach’ groups, within established decision-making procedures relating to the planning and implementation of the first of three health walks in an effort to address the area’s significant lifestyle-related health problems. More specifically, GIS-P was employed to assess, from the local user perspective, the walkability of the proposed health walk route in terms of its suitability and attractiveness, including attributes relating to accessibility, technical design, walking facilities and perceptions of safety from crime (see Moudon and Lee 2003; Brown et al . 2007).