After leading annual conferences and championing the International Charter for Walking, the non-profit Walk21 is expanding its efforts to improve walkability and livability across the globe by benchmarking the pedestrian-friendliness of world cities.
"As each country takes a slightly different approach to creating walking-friendly cities, one global organisation is working to connect and empower urban governments, citizens and communities to achieve a walkable future," reports Walkonomics. "Since its foundation in 2000 Walk21 has organised an annual international conference in over 10 different countries," and "has also championed the International Charter for Walking, which has been signed by over 4,000 people and organisations including several mayor’s and city governments."
The group's newest initiative, the ‘Making Walking Count‘ [PDF] project, measures the walkability of global cities across a common set of criteria. "Each city can see how they compare against other global cities and which areas they need to improve in," says Walkonomics. "So far the project has benchmarked London, Barcelona, Copenhagen and Canberra [PDF] and also audited New York and Stuttgart."
FULL STORY: Benchmarking the Walkability of Global Cities

Analysis: Cybertruck Fatality Rate Far Exceeds That of Ford Pinto
The Tesla Cybertruck was recalled seven times last year.

National Parks Layoffs Will Cause Communities to Lose Billions
Thousands of essential park workers were laid off this week, just before the busy spring break season.

Retro-silient?: America’s First “Eco-burb,” The Woodlands Turns 50
A master-planned community north of Houston offers lessons on green infrastructure and resilient design, but falls short of its founder’s lofty affordability and walkability goals.

Test News Post 1
This is a summary

Analysis: Cybertruck Fatality Rate Far Exceeds That of Ford Pinto
The Tesla Cybertruck was recalled seven times last year.

Test News Headline 46
Test for the image on the front page.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service