Dear Colleagues,

We invite you to submit a manuscript to a Special Issue in Urban Science entitled, “Walkable Metropolis: Opportunities and Challenges in the 21st Century”. This issue aims to explore the benefits of walkable or pedestrian-oriented design amid the many complex economic, social, and technological changes and challenges facing cities of the 21st century. Of particular interest is how walkability may be implemented to maximize benefits to human and environmental health while minimizing potential negative outcomes, such as reduced affordability or heightened exposure to crime and pollution. Additionally, papers that consider new or under-researched outcomes and themes associated with walkability, pedestrianism, or active transportation are strongly encouraged. Connections between walkable urban design and social/economic equity, innovation productivity, or resiliency, for example, are emerging areas that would be a particularly good fit for this Special Issue.

Additional topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Defining the goals and elements of walkability and walkability metrics;
• Gaps between objective and subjective measures of walkability and perceptions;
• Maximizing the human health (physical or psychological) benefits of walkability;
• Walkability and social interactions/cohesion;
• Economic or financial benefits of walkability;
• Walkability as a sustainability, livability, or resiliency strategy;
• Physical, economic, political, or social challenges to implementing or improving walkability;
• Connections or synergies between walkability and public transportation systems;
• Impacts of walkability on housing affordability and gentrification;
• Impacts of walkability on environmental quality and/or climate change;
• Walkability in the age of “big data” and “smart city” infrastructure;
• Equitable access to walkable places and infrastructure;
• Walkability and the knowledge economy: connections with innovation, creativity, or productivity;
• Walkability and safety concerns related to COVID-19 (or other communicable diseases), crime, terrorism, pollution, natural disasters, active shooters, etc.;
• Challenges associated with converting auto-centric spaces to pedestrian-centric ones;
• The future of walkability and the “return to the city” movement amid COVID-19 and other challenges;
• Other realized or unrealized opportunities or benefits of walkable, pedestrian-centric urban designs;
• Identifying gaps in the literature and setting priorities for future research on walkability.

Dr. Bradley Bereitschaft
Dr. Daniel Scheller
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Urban Science is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• walkability
• walkable
• pedestrianism
• pedestrian-oriented
• active transportation