WALK & the CITY Every trip begins and ends with walking. It is a healthy and environmental friendly universal mode of transport. Walking is considered as an inclusive solution to the contemporary urban transportation and mobility issues as well as to the pandemics of physical inactivity and the related overweight and obesity phenomena.
Although several European cities have already started to unleash straightforward walkability or/and bikeability strategies in the context of developing and delivering plans for sustainable, livable, active and healthy communities, walkability is still remaining a complex, difficult and manifold field of policy making. However, walkability related data are missing in the majority of European urban centers’ datasets and decision makers need promptly objective and subjective information of the walking environment in order for them to plan and envisage effectively the mobility and accessibility smart urban solutions of tomorrow. Besides, walkable cities need unambiguous walking strategies and strategies are designed by using the appropriate data.
“Walk and the City” is a crowdsourcing and a citizen science-based project, aiming to collect, show and store valuable geospatial open data and information about the walking urban environment. To that end, “Walk and the City” aspires to be a European reference point for walkability in cities and in turn to help public authorities to combat the detrimental effects stemming from the car-dependent lifestyles.