Walkable Cities as an Urban Planning Strategy to Mitigate Climate Impacts and Identifying Disparities Based on Income Level

By Hyejin Joo, Amelia Maggi, Seanna Ninan, and Tinuola Oladapo

Climate change is a massive concern in the modern world, and it is greatly attributed to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Abbass et al. 2022). Transportation is a major influence on GHG emissions as most vehicles can only operate thanks to the burning of fossil fuels (Pal et al. 2023; US EPA 2015). Walkable and transit-friendly cities help to reduce the emissions of passenger vehicles and are thus the crux of this proposal (The Climate Reality Project 2021; Li et al. 2025).

In the search to mitigate the issue of climate change in the context of GHG emission from transportation, more specifically on private car dependency, the idea of walkable cities was proposed. The concept of walkability considers the implementation of walking /cycling infrastructure and the endorsement of public transit systems. Introducing walkability as a framework for urban planning initiatives is not only beneficial for the environment but in other societal aspects as well (Carter et al. 2015). For example, a study done in 2024 by Community Climate Change Action Plan found that transportation accounted for approximately 19% of Hamilton’s total GHG emissions, essentially making the progress towards active and low-carbon goals, which is critical for abiding to climate change objectives (Figure 1) (BuildAbility Corporation 2024.).

Screenshot 2025-11-14 at 5 19 59 PM

Figure 1. The share of trips made by different modes of travel in Hamilton, Ontario. Highlighting the reduced form of transportation in single occupant vehicles at 67% occurred in 2011, in contrast to 2001 at 68%. The long-term target aims to lower the usage of private vehicles to 52% by 2031, while increasing the overall rates of transit use and walking/cycling (BuildAbility Corporation 2024).

Sedentary lifestyles are on the rise due to the convenience that urbanization has brought along such as remote jobs, food delivery services, and online shopping (Park et al. 2020). The reliance that society has on private vehicle, supports healthier communities overall. While the advantages of walkable cities are apparent, it is important to note that there are certain disadvantages that comes with implementation of cost- extensive projects on a large scale (Benassi and De Falco 2025).

Pedestrian walking decisions are substantially influenced by numerous factors, one of them being thermal comfort. Extreme temperatures associated with climate change confronts walkability and safety through affecting pedestrian’s thermal comfort (Baobeid et al., 2021). Thermal discomfort diminishes walking and cycling while enhancing vehicle use, contributing to increased GHG emission. Increased air pollution tends to be coupled with high walkability, unequally impacting low-income communities (Marshall et al., 2009). Furthermore, walkable design may not accommodate people with disabilities, leading to inequitable access, raising demands for barrier-free infrastructures (Southworth, 2005).

The feasibility of effective global implementation of transit-oriented development (TOD) and the transition to walkable, low transit cities varies between low-income and high-income regions (Mirmoghtadaee 2016). High-income contexts face barriers such as fragmented planning, hindering optimal project design and placement near transit, internal financial restrictions, and a car-centric culture. Low-income contexts face barriers such as fragmented governance, preventing policy action, and a lack of structured financial mechanisms (Ling et al. 2025; Hrelja et al. 2022; Nadeem and Matsuyuki 2025). The recommended process for high-income regions to overcome these challenges involves coordinated transit and land-use planning, implementing land-value capture models through selling the land made economically valuable by the new transit system, and subsequently using the revenue to finance micro-scale retrofitting (Kjeldsen and Joseph 2025; Wei and Mogharabi 2013; van Zoest and Daamen 2024; Fayed et al. 2020). For low-income regions the process involves prioritizing government stability to secure incremental financial investment support and ensuring for legal land ownership (Abbasi 2025; Dehghan et al. 2024; Bahaelu Horeh 2025). Following these processes in both regional contexts allows for effective and successful TOD.

In conclusion, walkability is not simply an urban planning trend. Instead, it is a crucial framework for climate resilience. With multileveled implementation confronting economic imbalance and environmental impacts, this approach enables progress towards sustainable, liveable urban environments that benefit both people and planet.

References

Abbasi, Ebrahim. 2025. Political Challenges and Crisis Management in the Islamic Republic of Iran: A Comprehensive Analysis | Discover Global Society. 3 (August). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s44282-025-00247-9.

Abbass, Kashif, Muhammad Zeeshan Qasim, Huaming Song, Muntasir Murshed, Haider Mahmood, and Ijaz Younis. 2022. “A Review of the Global Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation, and Sustainable Mitigation Measures.” Environmental Science and Pollution Research International 29 (28): 42539–59. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19718-6.

Bahaelu Horeh, Saba. 2025. “Evaluating Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Challenges and Prospects in Tehran: A Focus on Land Use Strategies around Metro Stations.” Politecnico di Torino.

Baobeid, A., Koç, M., & Al-Ghamdi, S. G. (2021). Walkability and its relationships with health, sustainability, and livability: Elements of physical environment and evaluation frameworks. Frontiers in Built Environment, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbuil.2021.721218

Benassi, Federico, and Antonio De Falco. 2025. “Residential Segregation and Accessibility: Exploring Inequalities in Urban Resources Access Among Social Groups.” Land 14 (2): 429. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14020429.

“BuildAbility Corporation.” n.d. Accessed November 12, 2025. https://www.hamilton.ca/sites/default/files/2025-03/ube-application-whitechurchlands-energy-climate-change-assessment.pdf.

Carter, Jeremy G., Gina Cavan, Angela Connelly, Simon Guy, John Handley, and Aleksandra Kazmierczak. 2015. “Climate Change and the City: Building Capacity for Urban Adaptation.” Progress in Planning, Climate change and the city: Building capacity for urban adaptation, vol. 95 (January): 1–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progress.2013.08.001.

Dehghan, Mohammad, Seyyed Nematollah Moosavi, and Ebrahim Zare. 2024. “Analyzing the Impact of Government Subsidies on Household Welfare during Economic Shocks: A Case Study of Iran.” Bio-Based and Applied Economics 13 (4).

Fayed, Lina, Abeer Elshater, and Rowaida Rashed. 2020. Copenhagen: A Model for Regenerative Cities. October.

Hrelja, Robert, Lina Olsson, Fredrik Pettersson-Löfstedt, and Tom Rye. 2022. “Challenges of Delivering TOD in Low-Density Contexts: The Swedish Experience of Barriers and Enablers.” European Transport Research Review 14 (1): 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12544-022-00546-1.

Kjeldsen, Lasse, and Mark L. Joseph. 2025. “Community Involvement in Mixed-Income Transformation in Copenhagen, Denmark.” Journal of Urban Affairs 47 (9): 3135–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2024.2323518.

Li, Jinpei, Yixuan Huang, Chunqin Zhang, and Di Yao. 2025. “How Does Public Transport Development Contribute to Carbon Emission Reduction?” Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 191 (January): 104327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2024.104327.

Ling, Changlong, Zhenhua Chen, Jiawen Yang, and Tianren Yang. 2025. “Evaluating Inclusive Transit-Oriented Development with Location Affordability and Its Influencing Factors.” Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 201 (November): 104672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2025.104672.

Marshall, J. D., Brauer, M., & Frank, L. D. (2009). Healthy neighborhoods: Walkability and air pollution. Environmental Health Perspectives, 117(11), 1752–1759. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.0900595

Mirmoghtadaee, Mahta. 2016. “Challenges of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in Iran. The Need for a Paradigm Shift.” TeMA - Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, October 1.

Nadeem, Muhammad, and Mihoko Matsuyuki. 2025. “Institutional Challenges and Opportunities for Encouraging Transit-Oriented Development with Bus Rapid Transit in Lahore, Pakistan.” Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 31 (May): 101431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2025.101431.

Pal, Preeti, P. R. C. Gopal, and M. Ramkumar. 2023. “Impact of Transportation on Climate Change: An Ecological Modernization Theoretical Perspective.” Transport Policy 130 (January): 167–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2022.11.008.

Park, Jung Ha, Ji Hyun Moon, Hyeon Ju Kim, Mi Hee Kong, and Yun Hwan Oh. 2020. “Sedentary Lifestyle: Overview of Updated Evidence of Potential Health Risks.” Korean Journal of Family Medicine 41 (6): 365–73. https://doi.org/10.4082/kjfm.20.0165.

Southworth, M. (2005). Designing the walkable city. Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 131(4), 246–257. https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)0733-9488(2005)131:4(246)

The Climate Reality Project. 2021. “Walkable Cities Can Benefit the Environment, the Economy, and Your Health.” July 8. https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/walkable-cities-can-benefit-environm….

US EPA, OAR. 2015. “Carbon Pollution from Transportation.” Overviews and Factsheets. September 10. https://www.epa.gov/transportation-air-pollution-and-climate-change/carbon-pollution-transportation.

Wei, Heng, and Abdollah Mogharabi. 2013. “Key Issues in Integrating New Town Development into Urban Transportation Planning.” Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Intelligent and Integrated Sustainable Multimodal Transportation Systems Proceedings from the 13th COTA International Conference of Transportation Professionals (CICTP2013), vol. 96 (November): 2846–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.08.317.

Zoest, Simon van, and Tom A. Daamen. 2024. “Explaining Value Capture Implementation in New York, London, and Copenhagen: Negotiating Distributional Effects.” Urban Affairs Review 60 (5): 1349–81. https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231222174.