Action for Walking – The Affordable and Essential Steps to Improve Walkability

How well cities enable mobility on foot affects the well-being of families, caregivers, and their young ones in cities. A safe, engaging, and healthy pedestrian realm is vital to fulfilling the socio-cognitive developmental needs of growing babies and toddlers. Their brains develop rapidly, and these adequate conditions can promote the interactions and play they need on a daily basis. For older children, they enable independent mobility, which is also the cheapest form of travel. For caregivers, especially women, good walking conditions mean the ability to take care-related trips to meet the needs of their families. Most importantly for all, walking is the cornerstone of access in cities.

Entry points such as Safe Routes to School programs, create opportunities for scaling up and improving the walking environments. In this discussion, we will look at why walking is critical for both, and the ways in which we can improve walking for caregivers and their children.