The Walkable City

Hiking and the walkable city – How we can create better urban environments by making them walkable and connecting them to the landscapes around the city

Walkability – The city made for walking

Text and drawings by Frits Ahlefeldt, Hiking.org

Cities and towns are better to live in if made for walking, they are also better to the environment, to climate change, to strengthen communities. They are safer and people live longer and are healthier – Walkability might be the most defining factor in the odds of a city to prosper and thrive

Drawing up perspectives on the walkable city

I’ve studied and drawn up what makes a city great for living in and great for walking in for a number of years… And living in Copenhagen ( And educated from The royal Danish Academy of architecture in Copenhagen) I see it every day, as Copenhagen is between the ten best cities to walk and live in in the world on the most prestigious lists – Still there are a lot of things even Copenhagen can do much better when it comes to walkability.

Drawing up the walkable city

  • Sketch of the words HABIT created like a building, and a void, and with a path between them. Illustration by Frits Ahlefeldt
    Hiking Landscapes of Understanding – defining habits as high or low places, or as paths
  • Illustration of a woman with two kids sitting on a roof of a house, surrounded by a sea of cars in all directions. Drawing by Frits Ahlefeldt
    Cars are today looking more and more like the problem, and less and less like the solution
  • Hiker walking along highway with cars and huge billboard saying buy more sustainable stuff with blond girl smiling. Illustration by Frits Ahlefeldt
    Walking along highway into city looking at poster to buy more…sustainable stuff
  • Illustration of a bird cliff house surrounded by flying birds. Drawing by Frits Ahlefeldt
    Bird cliff biodiversity architecture idea ( Frits Ahlefeldt )
  • illustration of a house swallow a hiker - drawing by Frits Ahlefeldt
    Homesickness can come out of the blue
  • illustration of house embracing hiker, welcoming home. by Frits Ahlefeldt
    Many hikers hesitate stepping back indoors, when coming back from a hike
  • Drawing of a yellow buldozer and a man in safety suit asking "is this scratch" Illustration by Frits Ahlefeldt
    Good ideas seldom starts out from Scratch
  • Drawing of a hiker meeting a local farmer, in a small farming shop - local market. illustration by Frits Ahlefeldt
    Walking from your doorstep and relating to local farmers can be the beginning of a very special relationship and more sustainable way of life
  • Drawing of a street with driving cars as the logic one one side (grey and no thrive ) and walking as the logic on the other side ( green and filled with life )
    Illustration of a city designed for cars and driving vs. a city designed for walking and thrive. There are some very clear and easy to accomplish differences – One of the best way to accomplish them is simply to design the city for walking. Drawing by Frits Ahlefeldt
  • Drawing of a city by the coast inside a smartphone or tablet
    The modern city is surrounded and encapsulated in information technology
  • Drawing of digital clouds uploading money from a city
    Today money seems to be raining up into the digital skies, not down from them
  • homeless man with shopping trolley meet businessman with shopping trolley
    The global digital village is a strange mixture of sharp boundaries and unlike meetings
  • Drawing of people attached in strings to a city in the clouds
    Citizens connected to the cloud-based smart-city
  • Blond girl with a no - phone sign, pointed at it
    Girl with a no phone zone t-shirt
  • Digital models today define how we design and build everything from cities to hiking trails
  • Challenges to communities
  • Drawing of an modular micro park, being placed in the city
    New ways to create places
  • Drawing of growing food along the sidewalks in the cities
    Urban sidewalk food is free garden
  • drawing of a hiking trail to a lighthouse
    Connecting the cities of tomorrow to special places along trails
  • Drawing of a nature architecture cityscape, with design from boxes
    Green hiking city – thinking inside the box, for a change
  • drawing of a lot of cars, seen from the driving seat
    Change the logic of cars, go walking instead
  • Nature vs urban reality
  • hiking trails connecting villages in the landscapes
  • Heart community
  • Creating places in ancient and new ways
  • Drawing of a planet and money speedometer
    We are running out of planet… CreativeCommons illustration by Frits Ahlefeldt
  • Drawing of a truck filled with nature pass hiker, heading out to see what is left
    When “leave no trace” is not enough for troubled landscapes
  • Waves of change and lack of place
  • Green organic buildings
  • Drawing of a city being strangled by car snake
    Trails instead of roads would be a big change for the cities
  • Modern and traditional dwelling
  • Drawing of a group of hikers
    Hikers on thrail that never ends
  • Drawing of an divided city
    Reality of a fractured city
  • The cities can be much better connected to the hiking trails

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