Why walkable neighborhoods aren’t just about distance
Ever found yourself driving to the grocery store or a coffee shop even though it’s a 10-minute walk and perfectly nice day? New research suggests the reason isn’t just distance—it’s how the walk feels.
Traditional walk scores like the ones featured on real estate websites claim to measure how pedestrian-friendly a home is, but in reality, most just gauge how close you are to stores, cafes or parks. So a 10-minute walk counts the same whether it’s along a tree-lined street or a car-heavy road with little to see. But it’s the sights, street life and amenities along the way that strongly shape whether people decide to walk, according to shared ahead of formal journal publication.
“Distance still matters a lot,” said Sentao Miao, an assistant professor of operations management at the Leeds School of Business and a co-author of the paper, which was posted online in July 2025. “But beyond that, the bigger factor is how interesting the walk is. A boring stretch of road will discourage walking, while a street lined with shops, cafes and parks—even if you don’t enter them—encourages people to walk instead of drive.”
Designing for walkability, Miao said, requires thinking about what people see, pass and experience on the way to their destination—not just how close that destination is.
Street experience
To figure out what makes a walk appealing, the researchers, who also included Haoran Guo and Wei Qi of Tsinghua University in Beijing, and Jian Cui and Zhenning Dong of Amap Alibaba Group, studied anonymized travel data from about 100,000 people in Beijing, covering roughly 3.4 million trips over one year.
The data tracked where people started and ended their trips, how long the trips took and how they got around (locations were rounded to 100-meter blocks to protect privacy.) The researchers looked at the trips alongside maps of nearby shops, cafes and parks to see how neighborhood layout affects walking.
“You want the walk to be interesting, with different types of facilities along the way,” Miao said. “Even if you don’t go into the stores, passing by shops, cafes or parks makes the street feel lively and increases the chances people will choose to walk.”
The researchers grouped pedestrians into two types: hedonic walkers, who stroll for fun or shopping, and utilitarian walkers, who walk with a purpose, like commuting or running errands. Hedonic walkers are drawn to shops, cafes and entertainment, while utilitarian walkers care more about easy stops, like a corner store or grab-and-go café.
Human-centered design
The way neighborhood amenities are arranged also influences whether people choose to walk, the researchers found. In already walkable neighborhoods, spreading shops and restaurants throughout several streets makes walking more enjoyable. In less walkable areas, clustering amenities along a single “main street” creates an attraction and encourages people to walk.
“If your neighborhood isn’t very walkable, clustering shops and services along a single street can create a real attraction,” Miao said. “People will go there because there’s a lot to do in one place—like a Main Street. But if the area is already pedestrian-friendly, adding everything to one street doesn’t help much. It’s better to spread things out so the whole neighborhood feels lively.”
The findings have practical implications for urban planners, real estate developers and city officials, Miao said. Rather than overhauling an entire city, small, targeted improvements like adding amenities along certain streets, improving pedestrian experience by adding trees or benches, or carefully locating parks, can make walking a more attractive option and potentially shift residents away from driving for short trips.
The research also points to the importance of human-centered design. What works in one city might not work in another, and cultural habits and personal preferences also influence whether people actually walk. Looking at what residents really choose to do, or simply observing how they move through their neighborhoods, can help planners design places that better fit how people live, Miao said.
“You want to understand what people actually need,” Miao said. “Designing a neighborhood should be human-centric. It’s not just about the map—it’s about the experience.”