Barriers for pedestrian movement in a small town: the walkability levels in Goiás city

Abstract

Walkability can be understood as a qualitative aspect of space, which allows pedestrians to access different points of the city. Thus, evaluating the quality of the city’s daily journeys is essential for understanding how inviting displacement on foot is. The aim of this work is to present the results of walkability levels in daily paths held in Goiás city, located in Brazilian center-west region. The bibliographical review gave us basis for the systematization of space quality parameters. First, we verified the framing of those chosen trails into an ideal distance for displacement on foot. Then, we defined the analytical criteria for spatial quality, which were constituted by sceneries with possibility of occurrence into urban space, rated on a scale of zero to five. The analyzed trails were divided in parts, on which were verified the analytical criteria. The results show us that the city has unfavorable conditions for walkability, with daily use equipments located at distances that uninvite walk displacements. Also, the pedestrian infrastructure is undersized, offers little protection for weather conditions, insufficient urban furniture of support and obstacles on the sidewalks. This context discourages displacement on foot in this small town.