Three books with similar titles that look at how urban planning impacts our experiences as pedestrians. Mary Soderstrom’s The Walkable City (2008) takes us through Paris, New York, Toronto, North Vancouver and Singapore, and examines how cities have changed the lives of ordinary citizens – in positive and negative ways. Soderstrom spoke with Pedestrian Space about the book. Jeff Speck’s Walkable City (2012) lays out a practical vision on how to make cities the best they can be. An expanded 10th anniversary edition was published in 2022 and reviewed by Urban Design Lab. Aimed at an academic readership, Jennie Middleton’s The Walkable City (2023) looks at everyday walking in contemporary urban life, and brings together theoretical and empirical insights to understand how urban spaces can be imagined, planned for, and experienced.

In a public talk for WRLDCTY, Jeff Speck explains how people only choose to become pedestrians if the walk is simultaneously “useful, safe, comfortable, and interesting.”