Mapping street accessibility and walkability in Zuera (Zaragoza, Spain)

Mapping street accessibility and walkability in Zuera

(Zaragoza, Spain)

by

Ramiro Aznar Ballarín

Dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of the degree of MSc in Urban Sustainability

Supervisor: Steve Musson

September 2010

Word Count: 19,194

1

To the memory of my mother, Esther.

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Abstract

In this dissertation I have attempted to analyze the street accessibility and walkability of Zuera

(Zaragoza, Spain). In this regard, a group of eight physical variables (Slope, Traffic load, On-

street park acreage, Sidewalk quality and width, Pedestrian comfort amenities, Disabled

accessibility structures, Physical barriers) were gauged by walking, and afterwards they were

combined in order to generate a set of accessibility and walkability indexes: Walking Space

Index (WSI), Street Quality Index (SQI) and Walkability Index (WI), for pedestrians; and

Disabled Accessibility Index (DAI) and Disabled Walkability Index (DWI), for people with

impairments. In addition, the progress of this work has been able to follow via blogging and

other new social networks. The results were presented in several maps using Geographic

Information Systems and image editing software. The final map-drawings pointed potential

areas which lacked of street accessibility and walkability. Therefore, these cartographic

representations showed the challenges and opportunities in which the inhabitants of Zuera could

focus in order to enhance the walking conditions of their town, thus improving the quality of life

of the urban community.

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Contents

Abstract

2

List of figures, maps and tables

4

Acknowledgements

5

1. Introduction

6

2. Objectives

10

3. Literature Review

11

3.1. Accessing the city

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3.2. Walking the city

13

3.3. Mapping the city

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4. Methodology

26

4.1. Study Area

26

4.2. Research Design

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4.3. Blog, flickr, twitter, tumblr and facebook

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5. Results

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5.1. Walkability and accessibility factors

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5.2. Walkability and accessibility indexes

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6. Discussion

69

6.3. Pedestrian accessibility and walkability

69

6.2. Disabled accessibility and walkability

78

6.4. A map made by walking

83

6.5. A research made by blogging

85

7. Conclusions and recommendations

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8. References

90

9. Appendixes

103

9.1. Matrix

103

9.2. Additional maps

107

9.3. Additional pictures

109

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List of figures, maps and tables

Figure 1 15 Figure 27 79






Figure 7 30 Map 1 27















Figure 22 67 Map 16 107

Figure 23 70 Map 17 108

Figure 24 72

Figure 25 74 Table 1 37

Figure 26 76 Table 2 103

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Acknowledgements

This dissertation is the result of six month of intensive research, walking, mapping and reading

between the towns of Zuera (Zaragoza, Spain) and Reading (Berkshire, UK). It has been an

amazing and rewarding experience and I would like to thank a number of people who have

contributed in some way to the final result:

I would like to thank my supervisor, Steve Musson, for his help and good advices. Thanks also

to all the lectures of the MSc in Urban Sustainability: Tijana Blanusa, Ross Cameron, Sophie

Bowlby, Geoffrey Griffiths, Steve Gurney, James Haselip, Sally Lloyd-Evans, Maria

Shahgedanova, Andrew Wade and Kevin White. They have introduced me to the fascinating

world of urban geography and sustainable develpment. I am also grateful to my masters’

classmates: Rodziah, Azadeh, Marcus and Gary, as well as my housemate Andy.

I would also like to thank my family: my father José, Marivi and my beautiful sisters, Adriana

and Serena for their love, support and those wonderful boxes full of Spanish food. Thanks also

to my good friends Ben, Octavio and Raquel, but I especially very grateful to my four ladies:

María, Gift, Sam and Steph for those evenings of multicultural dinners, food science

conversations and guessing games. I am also grateful to those friends who visited me in

Reading: Goyo, Miguel, Jorge, Suso, and last but not least, Chicho (and the everyday skype

chats with Dani). Finally, I would like to thank Mónica (“@comocrearh”), Pedro

(“@laperiferia”), Ethel (“@ethel_baraona”) and Enrique (“@ryukenichi”) for being my twitter

companions in this urban flânerie… I almost forgot, thanks to you as well.

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1. Introduction

Walking, the most fundamental form of human transportation through cities (Weinstein &

Schimek, 2007), presents a large amount of positive effects for citizens but also for the city

environment. In fact, aside from its clear environmental friendly component, walking has health,

economic and social benefits. Walking consumes neither fossil fuels nor nonrenewable natural

resources; it also does not produce any kind of contamination (not even noise). It is, therefore, a

sustainable means of transport. Furthermore, by going on foot in the city provides significant

benefits in terms of health and physical status. In this respect, it helps people to keep fit and

evade diseases associated with obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol and others

(Frank, 2003; Doyle et al., 2006; Berke et al., 2007). Moreover, it is clear that walking is a

cheap form of transport due to the fact that it does not require of any additional thing except the

human body and the energy needed in order to move it. A further economic benefit is its well

known activity of supporting local business, tourism and street economy (Litman, 2009).

Finally, as Gehl (1971: 80) points out, “[urban] life takes place on foot”, that is to say that

walking produces a constant flow of social interactions which eventually can improve

neighborhood cohesion and social integration (Jacobs, 1993; Greenberg & Renne, 2005).

Consequently, walking in the city can encourage the sense of community and contribute to

augment the citizen engagement, and ultimately, the quality of life of the city wayfarers

(CEDEX, 2009).

Nevertheless, in the last decades, walking has become a practice endangered by three main

processes. The first point is that cities have significantly grown and have sprawled in many

directions, and as a result, the distances which people have to complete have augmented

dramatically (Monclus, 1998), thus reducing the disposition of urban citizens to walk. The

second point is the rise of the affordable accessibility and use of motorized means of transport,

especially private cars, which can be an easy substitute for walking (CEDEX, 2009). Lastly,

walking is a social habit in clear decline. In this respect, because the consumerism society is

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becoming day by day more sedentary (Putnam, 1995), walking is one of the candidate activities

which is more likely to decrease (Breheny, 1995).

Therefore, because of the aforementioned benefits and precarious status in the current urbanism

it is necessary to investigate in more detail the relationship between walking and the city. In this

context, it has been argued that the urban environment, and more concretely streets, can

influence this physical activity behavior directly (Sallis & Owens, 2002; Saelens et al., 2003).

In order to estimate such an important city activity urban researchers such as Neville Owen,

James F. Sallis, Brian E. Saelens, Eva Leslie or Lawrence D. Frank have created the

term "walkability" to define the suitability for walking of a particular city, neighborhood or

street. Walkability, therefore, "may be conceptualized as the extent to which characteristics of

the urban environment and land use may or may not be conducive to residents in the area

walking for either leisure, exercise or recreation, to access services, or to travel to work" (Leslie

et al., 2007: 113). In general, there are four main groups of factors which have an influence on

city walkability: (i) physical environmental factors, which include variables such as local

topography and climate, and these it is possible to decompose respectively into slope

(Rodríguez & Joo, 2004; Lee & Moudon, 2006; Cerin et al., 2007) and weather conditions

(Cao et al., 2006; Gehl et al., 2006; CEDEX, 2009); (ii) individual characteristics, which

include from personal preferences, home residence and workplace locations (Frank, 2004), to

the personal features such as genre, age, physical conditions, education, wealth status and so on

(Ross, 2000; Ham et al., 2005; Saelens & Handy, 2008; CEDEX, 2009); (iii) socio-economic

and cultural factors, which include those related to the degree of economic and technological

development, the social value hierarchy, the customs and daily habits (Zlot et al., 2005), which

eventually influence the type and place of the residence or the importance of private vehicles in

citizens life (CEDEX, 2009); and (iv) urban environment features, which include the city

design, the neighborhood characteristics and the properties of the streets (to see another

classification read the paper review made by Pikora et al., 2003).

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The two most important factors related to urban design which have an effect on walkability are

considered to be street structure and connectivity (Southworth, 1997; Leslie et al., 2005; Li et

al., 2005, Cerin et al., 2007). As cited in the first time by Jane Jacobs (1993) and lately by other

authors, population density, land use mix, and block size are known to be a large impact on

constructing walkable neighborhoods (Southworth, 1997; Leyden, 2003; Besser &

Dannenber, 2005; Leslie et al., 2005; 2007; Li et al., 2005; De Bourdeaudhuij et al., 2006;

Gehl et al., 2006; Lee & Vernez Moudon, 2006; Spence et al., 2006; Vernez Moudon et al.,

2006; Cerin et al., 2007; CEDEX, 2009). It has been argued that traffic load and parkland

acreage, sidewalk length and condition and pedestrian comfort amenities are the main aspect

which most affects street walkability (Rodríguez et al., 2009).

Most of these studies are based on the relationship between perceived environmental variables

and walking. In these investigations, the methodology for obtaining data was surveys,

interviews or even participant observation. Conversely, a small number of them used

environmental variables derived from “objectively” data such as Geographical Information

Systems (GIS) (Troped et al., 2001; Giles Corti & Donovan, 2002; 2003; Kirtland et al.,

2003; Frank et al., 2005), street segment audits, aerial photography or local land use and street

new. The use of mapping tools for measuring walkability such as GIS -a computer-based tool

which allows the user to capture, storage, analysis, modeling, retrieval and graphic

representation of spatially referenced information (Leslie et al., 2007)- is relatively new. Most

of them were based mainly on the macro-scale factors which affect walking such as street

network pattern, residential density or proximity of urban resources. In contrast, for the purpose

of the present research is more interesting the work of Rodríguez and colleagues (2009) and

Rodríguez and Joo (2004) which demonstrate the significant effect of “micro-scale” street

features on walking and pedestrian accessibility. On the one hand, the first was a study focused

on the positive relationship between segment-level built environment attributes, such as the

width of the sidewalk or the presence of amenities like benches or trash bins, and pedestrian

activity. The second, on the other, was based the beneficial interaction between local street

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features (sidewalk availability, presence of walking and cycling paths…) and travel mode

choice.

However, most of these academic works are top-down initiatives (Elwood, 2006a) in which the

researchers set up the scenario where the citizens have to “walk”. In this respect, it is essential

to construct an arena were scholar research, the local knowledge and other social forces can

converge in order to promote more livable cities. As Manuel Castells says, “(the) alliance

between professional and concerned citizens must be called upon to save the cities” (2004). In

our case, it has been decided to set up an open process of researching and mapping. The

resulting cartography should illustrate both the constraints and the possibilities (Amin, Massey

& Thrift, 2000 ) for improving the walking properties of towns and cities, a “surface of

potentials” (Corner, 2006) in which a new collaborative urbanism will have the opportunity to

“irrigate” streets with potential (Koolhaas, 1995) for some livable activities such as walking,

and hence, to enhance the quality life of their citizens.

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2. Objectives

In the present work, the main hypothesis which drives the whole research is based on the

assumption that the streets of Zuera have an important deficit of pedestrian accessibility and

walkability. This came mainly from my personal experience as inhabitant of the village as well

as from complains of family members and neighbors. In addition, two other concerns were

added regarding open space and disabled accessibility in order to complement the study. On the

one hand, herein accessibility was understood as the possibility to access to certain places

and/or activities (Handy & Clifton, 2001). Therefore, this research was focused on accessibility

to the streets or open spaces as well as walking. Walkability, on the other, as mentioned above

is envisioned as the capacity of a street for walking. In this context, the capacity was based on

the myriad of details that color the “walkscape” of Zuera (Ackerson, 2005; Careri, 2009).

A second concern was based on the lack of both geospatial data of Zuera in respect of street

walkability and accessibility. In this regard, it was decided to generate multiple maps to

illustrate the conditions of the streets of Zuera for walking and accessing open spaces. More

importantly, the resulting cartography as well as the methodology used in the research was

conceived as an open process in which, as the own nature of walking and mapping (Phillips,

2005; Dodge & Kitchin, 2007), people has access to participate and change the investigation

and probably their own streets.

The purpose of this dissertation is thus two-fold: (i) to analyze the accessibility and walkability

of the streetscape and open space of the Spanish village of Zuera; and (ii) to create accessibility

and walkability cartography which eventually serves as a platform for future collaborative urban

planning.

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3. Literature Review

3. 1. Accessing the city

David Harvey and Ray Pahl were amongst the first authors to point out the relationship between

social justice and the spatial distribution of urban resources (Pahl, 1976; Harvey, 1988). Both

were concerned with the urban structure, city politics and planning, which create social and

spatial constraints in relation to opportunity for accessing to education, healthcare, work or

housing. In recent years academics such as Amin and Thrift (2002) have changed the focus of

study from accessing public open or shared spaces (streets, parks, squares, cafes, libraries and

malls) to the increasing privatization and segregation of once communal areas.

The present work, however, have based more on the accessing to urban resources and services,

especially streets, parks and squares. Firstly, it has been argued that everyone should have

access to every street of the city. Namely, everyone should be able to participate in “the street

ballet dance” (Jacobs, 1993): men, women, children, elderly and disabled people. These new

choreographies should include all kind of movements. The foundations of street design must

move from a “passage-point urbanism” (Greenfield, 2010) to an open mobility one, that is to

say that mobility ought to be conceived as “a messy, unpredictable, diverse and changeable

reality” rather than just a “predictable and purposeful” range of trips, origins and destinations

(Huxley, 1997). In theory, movement and mobility, are rights that should be enabled and

promoted in the streets because they are intrinsically ‘good things’, practices which ought to be

propagated “as end in themselves”, but also, they can be seen “as a means to an end” and a

mechanism for opening up opportunities for urban users (Imrie, 2000: 1642, emphasis mine).

The problem is that nowadays the majority of the streets are obstacle courses which prevent

easy movement (Imrie & Kumar, 1998 ), especially for disabled people, many of whom are

elderly (Lavery et al., 1996). It has been argued that these impediments are made by both

physical and social barriers (Gleeson, 1999), but both factors are not independent. In fact, as

Massey (1996) notes, the spatial and the social are mutually entwined, and hence, space should

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be conceived as a key constituent of socio-spatial, political and cultural processes. Furthermore,

according to Lefebvre (1991), urban geography can be seen as a mix of ‘produced spaces’, or

the so-called ‘landscapes of power’ (Zukin, 2002) in which some social groups, such as

disabled people, are socially and physically excluded. In this respect, it has been demonstrated

that for many disabled people, access to specific spaces in cities is a constitutive part of how

they come to be defined and recognized (Imrie & Kumar, 1998 ). Therefore, the inaccessible

design of some streets can be understood as a symbol of social oppression because it reduces the

ability of these people to participate fully in urban life (Gleeson, 1999). These disabling

landscapes derive mainly from the architect’s conception of the human body. What is more, it

has been argued that the most influential architectural theories and practices fail to recognize

bodily and psychological diversity (Imrie, 2003). By contrast, there is an increasing body of

literature to claim for a “bodily sensitized architecture” (Lefbvre, 1991; Thrift, 1997; Borden,

1998; Less, 2001; Imrie, 2003). According to Imrie (2003), for instance, an “open-

minded” and reflexive architecture is needed, without borders or boundaries, and sensitized to

the different “corporealities” of the body. He goes on by arguing that it is also necessary

recentring of ‘the social’ at the fulcrum of design theory and urban practices, “whereby the

aesthetic and the practical, the subject and the object, and the body and the mind are brought

together” (2003: 64). This eventually calls for the incorporation of a stronger ‘disabled

voices’ in the decision-making processes affecting the urban life circumstances of disabled

people (Bromley et al., 2007). Therefore, if street quality is to be improved, there are two

complementary processes to tackle. First, disabled street physical conditions for walking should

be solved, and secondly, this must be linked to a participatory analysis of the individuated needs

in order to protect what is called “the rights of difference” (Gould, 1996).

Secondly, accessing to green areas within cities has become a very important issue due to the

fact that urban residents are progressively isolating from nature in all its form, thus living in a

concrete and glass world. There is an increasing academic body of literature indicating that

contact with nature has a positive effect on urban dwellers. Urban parks, gardens, allotments

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and other green spaces can play an important role promoting the quality of life of urban

communities (Burgess et al., 1988; Chiesura, 2004). First, it has been argued that access to

these conspicuous elements of the urban landscape is associated with health and psychological

benefits (Jackson, 2003). Among these, it can be included aiding recovery from surgery,

inducing positive states of mind and stress reduction (Ulrich, 1984; Burgess et al., 1988; Hull,

1992; Parsons et al., 1998; Hartig & Fransson, 2009;). Secondly, the presence of nature in

cities may also offer social benefits such as promoting social integration and enhancing

community cohesion (Coley et al., 1997; Taylor et al., 1998). Many of these positive effects

come from the so-called ecosystem services (Bolund & Hunhammar, 1999), inter alia, urban

green areas are known for improving their urban microclimate (Oke, 1989), reducing noise and

pollution (Scott et al., 1999; Gidlöf-Gunnarsson & Ohrström, 2007) and allowing people to

enjoy the essential values of biodiversity (Jorgensen et al., 2002). In contrast, it has been stated

that urban greenspaces do not always play the role of gateway for urban societies (Madge,

1997). Indeed, they are dynamic and complex systems (Thompson, 2002) which depend on

their inherent nature as well as their spatial, temporal and social context (Jacobs, 1993). In

order to explain this we can adapt the famous cite at the beginning of Hemingway’s “For whom

the bell tolls” (Hemingway, 1995): public parks are not islands, entire of themselves;

greenspaces are pieces of the urban fabric. Parks, thus like other public entities, are acted upon

and function in response to larger-scale forces originating within the surrounding neighborhoods

(Solecki & Welch, 1995; Gobster, 1998).

3.2. Walking the city

The world is “an enormous canvas on which to draw by walking”, a “surface that is not a white

page, but an intricate design of historical and geographical sedimentation on which to simply

add one more layer” (Careri, 2009: 150, emphasis mine). From the ancient footprints of

two Australopithecus afarensis in Laetoli (Tanzania) 3.4 millions of years ago to the first steps

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of Neil Amstrong on the moon in 1969, human beings –and our recent ancestors- have written

History by walking. In cities, walking has been the main way of transport until a very few years,

supporting the foundations of mobility and urban interactions (CEDEX, 2009). Nevertheless,

walking is not just a mode of travel through the city.

One of the first figures to recognize this reality was the urban flâneur (Figure 1). Originally,

this character emerged from the streets of Paris, late in the 19th century (Wilson, 2002), and it

is mainly known thanks to the analysis of Charles Baudelaire by Walter Benjamin (Benjamin,

1983, cited in Tester, 1994). A flâneur was an idler, a waster, but also an observer or detective

of the urban scene (Featherstone, 1998). He is very interesting for the purpose of this work

because it points out the “centrality of locomotion in social life”, as the flâneur strolls through

the urban landscape and crowds is continually invade by new streams of experience, flavors and

develops new perceptions and understandings (ibid ). Moreover, the street, according to

Benjamin (2002), leads the flâneur through a vanished time, a resonance or melody from an

alternative past. But, in fact, it has been argued that flânerie was not just the activity of strolling

and looking, but also, as mentioned in the first paragraph, of writing and transforming the urban

fabric (Walkowitz, 2002). In this respect, men such as Engels, Dickens and Mayhew were

considered the first poets who tried to read the ‘illegible’ city, transforming its chaotic and

haphazard narrative into an integrated, knowable and ordered social text (ibid). As Benjamin

writes (2002), cities are large deposits of history which can be read as a book if one is able to

find the proper code.

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Figure 1 An urban flâneur walking the street. This figure, according to Benjamin (2002), was able to

both read and write on the city [source: http://www.laciudadviva.org/].

With the arrival of the 20th century the presence of the flâneur on the streets of the great

European cities diminished because of two main factors: the decline of public space and the rise

of traffic (Featherstone, 1998). As a result, this urban explorer has been progressively

substituted by others forms of public strollers. A good example of this can be found in the

contemporary shopping flâneur (ibid ), a consumer who enjoys the liberty of mingling in the

crowd and mixing with the world of good on display (Falk & Campbell, 1997, cited in

Featherstone, 1998). In recent years, as the textual city is being replaced by the “hypertextual”

or data city, a new electronic explorer now wanders through the avenues of the Internet. As

Verilio (1997, quoted in Featherstone, 1998) points out, “the [computer] screen has become the

city square”. Computer and social networks have become as essential to urban life as street

systems (Mitchell, 2002). In this regard, it has been argued that there are two significant

differences between the urban and this digital flâneur. The first is the dissimilarity in relation to

speed and mobility. In contrast to the slow strolling of the conventional flâneur, who can walk

through a few numbers of streets and always in the same city, the electronic version can “jump”

from one street to another (Featherstone, 1998). Indeed, the electronic flâneur is able to hop to

another city (ibid). This ‘hypermobility’ is known as surfing or surfing and it is based on the

hyperlinked nature of the Internet. The second contrast is the scope and scale of the universe

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the flâneur inhabits (ibid ). On the one hand, the flânerie of the 19th century was limited by the

built environment and by social barriers as well. The ‘datascape’, on the other hand, is

multilayered, almost infinite (ibid ), but as in traditional cities, there are cultural, physical and

socio-political obstacles for accessing to the newly created digital cityspace (Mitchell, 2002).

In the 1950s, the walking traditions of the city move from the flânerie to the concept

of dérive (“drift” or “drifting”) developed by the members of the Situationist International.

The dérive was the immediately successor of the Dada “visit” and the Surrealism

“deambulation” (Careri, 2009); by drifting or walking the city, the Situationists attempted to

construct situations as the means with which to strip the naked city, but also a medium to

construct a “playful” landscape, “a space for collective living, for the experience of alternative

behaviors” (ibid: 108). In contrast to the Surrealism, the dérive accepts chance, but is not based

on it (ibid); in fact, with a few rules, they pretended to open up dormant potentialities of

symbolic intervention and understanding urban landscapes, not as data compilation but as an

experience itself (Escobar, 2009). In this context, Situationists represented derives

by “psycogeographical maps” to illustrate these flows of subjective experiences (ibid)

(psycogeograhy will be discussed in detail in the next section).

As Careri (2009) points out, walking is itself a human participation performed symbolically and

physically affecting city-life space; in fact, it is an aesthetic exploration. In this regard, Phillips

(2005) explains that walking has enchanted many (anti) artists because its process-based,

participatory and unfinished nature, and as mentioned above, because it offers a way of

‘writing’ the urban and natural landscape that does not seen to be colonial, without regulatory

air. Therefore, as Roelstraete (2010: 13-15) notes in his essay about Richard Long’s ‘A line

made by walking’ (1967), “walking is a mode of making the world as well as being in it”, “both

measuring the world and appropriating it”, thus, the act of walking can be considered as “a

radically different, more democratic experience of landscape”. In recent years, aside from Long,

others land artists such as Ulay, Wodiczko, Muller, Cardiff, or Tiravanija have made ‘art’ out of

the most ordinary of human practices, walking, and their work has added to other mythologies

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of walking such as pilgrimages, diasporas, and the

aforementioned flâneurisms and dérives (Phillips, 2005).

All these cultural movements based on experiencing the city by walking are in clear opposition

of the so-called God’s view (De Certeau, 2002), panoptic view (Faucault, 2002), or ‘zenithal

view’ (Escobar, 2009), in which the city is observed from the window of the last store of the

tallest skyscraper. The practice of walking and the reflection on urban walks thus contribute to a

counter-discourse of the urban (Rossiter & Gibson, 2003). In this same sense, Barthes (1982,

cited in Fenton, 2005: 14) indicates that a city can be known only ethnographically, namely, by

walking, by sight, by habit… Wilson (1991, cited in Pinder, 2001) argues that walking in the

city invokes memories, a process related with what Proust defined as “mémoire involuntaire”.

Many authors have supported this argument, Steve Pile (1997, cited in Pinder, 2001) for

instance, says that walking allows one to travel in time and move through space. For him, each

angle, each new experience on the streets, could produce multiple flash-backs and flash-

forwards mixed with the present. In addition to spatial and temporal memories, the city is

characterized as well by its rhythm (Middleton, 2009). As Highmore (2005: 141, quoted in

Middleton, 2009) highlights, “rhythm in the form of pace is a crucial ingredient to any

experience of the city, no matter how fast or slow that pace is”. Therefore, it can be said that the

relationship between walking and the city space and time is very complex. On the one hand,

wayfarers can experience the different urban “spatialities” according to their memories,

feelings, mood… On the other hand, it is clear that the interaction between walking and time “is

not just one of clock-time passing, but is constituted by multiple temporalities [and rhythms]

which appear from and shape people’s experience on foot” (Middleton, 2009: 1958).

De Certau encourages walkers to be the producers of their own “urban texts”, to construct and

occupy urban space inventively, to enable potentialities of re-presenting the city from the street

(Rossiter & Gibson, 2003), to irrigate streets with potential. In the same line, Phillips (2005)

states that walking is an activity to open up inaccessible spaces to research but also is a mode

which demonstrates the limitations of such space. In fact, “the speech act of walking creates

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stories, invent spaces, and opens up the city through of urban space permits a myriad of

unrealized possibilities to surface, triggering emotions and feelings that may lie dormant in

many people” (Rossiter & Gibson, 2003: 440).

3.3. Mapping the city

Urban cartography provides layers of geospatial data that direct people through the city, thus

guiding the map-reader in space and uncovering specific aspects of the metropolis (Amoroso,

2010). In this respect, maps are still frequently viewed as neutral and objective representations

(Pinder, 2003), but this statement is an illusion (Harley, 1989). Maps are indeed a product of

nature rather than a mirror of reality (Pickles, 2004, cited in Dodge & Kitchin, 2007). They are

socially constructed artifacts which register the prevailing political demands of their cultural

context and the personal input of the map-maker (Amoroso, 2010). A good example of this can

be found in the drawings of Hugh Ferris. His ‘Evolution of the Set-back Building’ can be

considered as three-dimensional maps in which Ferris exposed a virtual city as it reflected the

limitations of form (Figure 2), the economic demands of property owners and developers, and

the aesthetic concerns of architects (ibid ).

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Figure 2 Hugh Ferris’ ‘Evolution of the Set-back Building’ or more commonly known as the “Four-

Stages” drawings (1922) [source: http://christopherhenrickson.blogspot.com/].

In addition, cartography can be understood as ‘wordly’ (Barnes & Gregory, 1997, cited in

Pinder, 2003). As de Certau writes (1984: 117, quoted in Dodge & Kitchin, 2007):

“[a map] is like the word when it is spoken, that is when it is caught in the ambiguity

of an actualization, transformed into a term dependent upon many conventions,

situated as the act of a present (or of a time), and modified by the transformations

caused by successive contexts”

In the same sense, James Corner points out that a map generally attempts to convince the reader

of some particular aspect the map is trying to represent (Amoroso, 2010). He states that

mapping can be understood as an “agency”, namely, “an operation, condition, or state of acting

or of exerting power”, and therefore, a map is an “agent”, “a powerful mechanism that pushes

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for the end result” (ibid: 99). As Mitchell (1990:12, quoted in Freire & Villar, 2010 ), a map is

“always something or someone, [made] by something or someone, to someone”.

According to Pinder (2003), Situationists, as mentioned above, were aware of this reality

regarding maps, and specifically urban representations. Debord’s ‘The naked city’ (Figure 3)

and ‘Guide psychogéographique de Paris’, for instance, were maps which invite the user to take

the perspective of someone walking in the city, to consider enigmas of urban experience and

activity form “a more embodied perspective”. He goes on to say that Situationists and their

predecessors developed psycogeography as a means of appraising the emotional contours of

cities, the connection between behavior and urban geography, and how they may be

transformed. They therefore view mapping as a methodology for encountering the city rather

than simply mirroring it (Wood, 1978, cited in Pinder, 2003).

Figure 3 “The naked city” by Guy Debord [source: http://urbantick.blogspot.com/].

It can be argued that psycogeography, in fact, is very close to the ‘mental maps’ and the

‘cognitive mapping’ tradition that was pioneered by Kevin Lynch. His work, and more

specifically ‘The Image of the City’ (1960), has helped to constitute a tool for a better urban

design. By using mental maps (Figure 4) as means to reveal the city’s pattern (or lack of it),

these cartographies bring to light the imperfection of the city’s urban structure (Amoroso,

21

2010). In this respect, Lynch was truly interested in knowing the “good” city form, but at the

end, he discovered that it was an impossible task. In fact, according to him, “cities are too

complicated, too far beyond our control, and affect too many people, who are subject to too

many cultural variations… Cities, like continents, are simply huge facts of nature, to which we

must adapt” (1981: 1, quoted in Amoroso, 2010). Nevertheless, it was a question which was

(and is) worth asking mainly because it involves a value assessment. Values are inevitable part

of decision-making and urban governance, and hence, there is a necessity to understand, express

and map such values (Amoroso, 2010).

Figure 4 An example of Lynch’s mental map [from “The Image of the City” (1960); source:

http://www.csiss.org].

As the act of walking, mapping can be understood as an on-going and unfinished process. In

this sense, Kitchin and Dodge argue that “(m)aps are never fully formed and their work is never

complete. They are transitory and fleeting, being contingent, relational and context-dependent,

they are always ‘mapping’” (2007: 331, emphasis mine). Further, they continue by stating that

maps are constantly in a stage of becoming, they are “ontogenic” or “emergent” in nature, that is

to say that they are products of the moment. This idea of understanding cartography as a

processual science rather than representational has a powerful epistemological change. In

essence, it can be suggested that what really matters now is the “social life” of maps rather than

the own maps (Freire & Villar, 2010 ).

22

On April 23rd 2005 the number of Google’s searches for Google Maps (http://maps.google.es/)

overtook those for GIS. This date is considered as the beginning of a new cartography era

(Hudson-Smith & Crooks, 2008). In the so-called “Neogeography” “non-expert users were

able to exploit the power of maps without requiring the expertise traditionally associated”

(Batty et al., 2010: 1). In fact, it was only necessary to provide citizens with tools and channels

because, as mentioned by Blaut and colleagues (2003, quoted in Perkins, 2007: 127), “all

human beings can map: people have natural mapping abilities”. In this regard, data are

progressively accessible, software tools permit people to make their own cartography and the

rise of the Web 2.0 has encourage an underground movement of collaborative mapping and

dissemination (Perkins, 2007). A good example of this can be found in the Open Source

initiative founded in July 2004 by Steve Coast called Open Street Maps (OSM), “an

international no-profit organization dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and

distribution of free geospatial data and to providing geospatial data for anybody to use and

share” (www.openstreetmap.org).

Participatory (or collaborative or community) mapping has its roots on a social methodology

named participatory research. This 'bottom-up' technique is used by local activists as 'scale

jumping' (Ghose, 2007) to frame their local concerns by reference to broader patterns, trends

and relationships in order to gain legitimacy and to represent their concerns beyond the local

level. The inherent nature of this approach, thus, is generally unpredictable, exploratory and

relational (Pain & Kindon, 2007). For this reason, in practice, participatory analysis rarely

follows the smooth route implied by academic papers. In this respect, Cornwall and Jewkes

(1995) point out a series of problems concerning participation: it is time and energy consuming;

within communities not everyone will be able to participate; involvement in the research

process is usually neither continuous nor predictable; a community is a very heterogeneous

group; and finally, the researcher should be aware of the unintended consequences or by-pass

effects of his/her choices and biases, and even the possible negative outcomes which can be

generated for the community of study. It has been argued that a further concern in relation to

23

participatory research is the context in which the research is developed, the so-called space of

participation (Cornwall & Gaventa, 2000; Gaventa, 2002). First, it is known that the majority

of 'invited spaces' created from above through municipal initiatives or research experiments are

not neutral, but are shaped by the power relations which both enter and surround them.

Secondly, even spaces which are chosen, taken and demanded through collective action from

below may have 'tracks and traces' of previous social relationships, resources and knowledge

(Cornwall & Jewkes, 1995). Therefore, participation should be understood as context

dependent and contingent on particular local and regional settings (Kesby, 2007).

In the current project the mechanism to community engagement will be the use of participatory

mapping, in which some residents will be able to climb the ladder of citizen participation

(Arnstein, 1969) and sketch their necessities and possibilities of the streets of the town. As a

consequence residents can move from just 'beneficiaries', 'users' or 'choosers' to real 'makers and

shapers' (Cornwall & Gaventa, 2001). The origins of the participatory cartographies can be

traced back in the 1970s. At that time researchers drew on psychology to develop the use

of mental or cognitive maps designed by people to represent their spatial environments (Gould

& White, 1974 cited in Cornwall & Gaventa, 2000). Today there has been a great evolution in

this sort of tools and channels (Krek, 2005). Among them, it has demonstrated that

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) has a truly interesting potential for engaging

communities in collective urban research and participatory planning (Geertman, 1999, cited in

Geertman, 2002; Dennis, 2006). One of the most interesting initiatives in Participatory GIS

(PGIS) is defined as Bottom-Up GIS (BUGIS). In this approach, residents learn to manipulate

GIS software and data to express their views about planning issues, neighborhood meaning and

future preferences (Tallen, 2000). BUGIS, thus, can be used by participants as a spatial

language tool based on local knowledge and residents perceptions. As noted by Jane Jacobs

(1993: 540), neighborhoods are really difficult to define, even for their residents, “you never

realize how complicated a neighborhood within a big city is until you try to explain it” and, in

this regard, BUGIS can be very helpful. Elwood (2006a), for example, found five different

24

types of spatial narratives about neighborhoods conditions and capacities in the GIS-based

maps designed by two community organizations in a development project in Chicago: needs,

assets, injustices, accomplishments and reinterpretation narratives. The interaction of these

geographies can create a particular participatory potential surface wherein can be detect spaces

of opportunity as well as spaces of need or deficit. In addition to identify neighborhood

potentials and problems, PGIS can make the discussion between planners, authorities and

residents contextual, more realistic and more importantly, technically supported (Al-Kodmany,

1999), and hence, it may eventually legitimize individual or community expressions and

proposals (Tallen, 2000).

Nevertheless, the benefits of using GIS in participatory processes must be also tempered with a

clear understanding of its intrinsic limits, drawbacks, and biases. Firstly, GIS cannot be made to

substitute for the wide array of ways in which residents express their views about their

environment (Tallen, 2000). In fact, PGIS should be complemented with more traditional ways

of participation as well as new mechanisms of public engagement such as artists’ freehand

sketching or computer-based photo-manipulation (Al-Kodmany, 1999). Secondly, it is known

that there are some financial, temporal and technical barriers that can impede certain social

groups to use of GIS (Elwood, 2006b). Concretely, GIS technology needs high quality of

computer equipment and also time and willingness to understand how the software works. In

this respect, for most citizens the personal benefit of getting involved in planning activities and

learning how to use a PGIS application is usually little and the costs of participation is rather

high (Krek, 2005). Finally, and more importantly, as McCall (2003) states, PGIS can both

empower and marginalize. In this regard, he also points out that information accrues to those

already with most resources, thus further accumulating their power. He goes by highlighting

that the ‘value-neutral’ of GIS applications is a myth, and thus, it all depends on what it is being

used for, and on who is controlling it.

25

A way of accessing the city is by walking on it. In this respect, the ephemeral trace the

pedestrian leave on the streets can be envisioned as an unconscious cartography of contingent

choreographies. First, this sidewalk dance (Jacobs, 1993) should be characterized by open,

unpredictable and diverse movements, a reflection of the variety of street-users (Huxley, 1997).

In a sense, urban walkways should move from a “passage-point urbanism” (Greenfield, 2010)

characterized by disabling “walkscapes” (Imrie, 2003; Careri, 2009) to an open-mobility one.

Secondly, the act of walking should be conceived as both a method to open up inaccessible

spaces to research but also is a mode which demonstrates the limitations of such space (Phillips,

2005). Walking is therefore a more democratic experience through which is possible to read the

city as well as to write on it (Roelstraete, 2010). Finally, the process of walking or dancing

should be carried out hand by hand with a procedure of mapping. This would eventually

generate a street map made by walking, a relief of potentials (Corner, 2006) in which people

can move through it and draw thus their spatial narratives in order to improve their own urban

reality.

26

4. Methodology

4. 1. Study Area

The village of Zuera is located within the province of Zaragoza, concretely 26 Km northeast

from the capital of Aragon, Zaragoza (Map 16 in Appendix). The municipal area of Zuera has a

total surface of 33,317 ha, and it is geographically placed between the Ebro basin, and

the Exterior Sierras of the pre-Pyrenees. The River Gállego runs through the region and its

average altitude is approximately 300 m, and the highest point of its geography can be found the

so-called “monte alto”, and more concretely, in the peak of La Lomaza (726 m).

27

Map 1 Neighborhoods of Zuera (1997).

The landscape of the municipal area is very diverse (Map 1). In this regard, we can find a

mixture of flat and hilly ("alomados") surfaces. The flat territories, on the one hand, are shaped

by the River Gállego dynamics, that is the Quaternary alluvial terraces. In fact, the different

28

urban areas (Zuera, El Portazgo, barrio de la Estación, Las Galias, Ontinar de Salz, and Las

Lomas del Gállego) as well as the industrial parks (El Campillo and Los Llanos de la Estación)

have sprawled along these horizontal surfaces. Moreover on the terraces and the alluvial

landscape close to the river it is possible to find orchards and irrigated agriculture crops. On the

other hand, the hilly landscape is composed by the Tertiary structural platforms, made by

geological materials like marl and gypsum, indeed the latter is considered as one of the most

conspicuous elements of the landscape of Zuera (Figure 5). These soft rocks make a fragile and

brittle landscape, and as a result, the hillslopes have plenty of long incisions and small ravines.

Because of these particular geological features, there are several small basins with flat bottom

where rainfed crops can develop.

Figure 5 The semi-stepparian landscape of the “monte” of Zuera [photo by José Aznar Grasa, 2007].

Finally, in the northwest part of the municipal area, in which the landscape is more abrupt and

hilly, there can be seen the limestone surfaces at the top of the so-called "muelas" or "mesas"

29

(small plateaus) that are typical of the Mediterranean landscape of "monte alto" and its

pinewoods (Gracia Aísa, 2005).

In regard to the climate conditions, on the one hand, the annual average temperature is 15º C

with a range between the 25º C of July and 5,9º C of January. Further, it is possible to reach the

42º C in August, and less than 0º C during the winter. On the other hand, the average annual

rainfall is 368 mm, this is distributed among 80 days and with a clear concentration during the

months of spring and fall. The last key meteorological factor to highlight is the windy

conditions which suffered the area where is located Zuera. The dominant winds come from the

west and are called with the local name of “cierzo”. This is a very dry and frequent wind, a cold

one in winter and a fresh one in summer. The climate of Zuera, thus, can be defined as

Continental Mediterranean (Gracia Aísa, 2005), and characterized by the lack of rainfalls,

which are concentrated in spring and fall, as well as by the strong temperature contrast between

the summer and winter period.

The municipal area of Zuera has 7,427 inhabitants, of which the majority live in the urban core

of Zuera. In this respect, there has been a progressive population growth since the beginning of

the last century (Figure 6). It is important to address that aside from a small augment of the

natality rate, this have been a result from strong immigration from East-European countries -

especially from Romania and Poland- caused by the generation of lots of jobs by the Spanish

building over-expansion during the last decade, and more recently, the need for workers for the

construction of the the International Exposition of 2008 in Zaragoza.

30

Figure 6 Evolution of the number of inhabitants between 1900 and 2009 [source:

http://portal.aragon.es/portal/page/portal/IAEST/Principal].

According to the 2001 data (http://portal.aragon.es/portal/page/portal/IAEST/Principal), the

municipality of Zuera has 2,344 workers and 299 students, of which a large proportion does it in

the closest big city, Zaragoza. In addition, the data from 2009 shows that administration,

industry (food industry, chemical industry, manufacturing...), construction, agriculture and

husbandry, and commerce are the sectors which have more jobs. On the other hand, the number

of unemployed people has increased significantly in the last two years (Figure 7), especially in

the construction sector because of the Spanish financial and Real Estate crisis. As a result, some

immigrants have been forced to return to their countries.

Figure 7 Evolution of the number of unemployed people between 1900 and 2009 [source:


Finally, it is essential for the purpose of this piece of work to highlight the increasing trend of

the number of cars in the last dozen of years (Figure 8).

31

Figure 8 Evolution of the number of vehicles between 1996 and 2008 [source:


The urban evolution of Zuera can be divided in three main stages (Aznar Grasa, unpublished),

each one associated with a town planning. The modern urbanism began in the village of Zuera

in the 50s with the creation of the "Plan General" by Regino Borobio. The strategy of this plan

was very proactive and focused only on expanding the urban buildable land. It is a planning,

thus, closer to the urbanism of the 30s and 40s of the last century, in which the most important

point was the definition of the block lineups, than to the latter urbanism, which was more

interested in land management and delivering urban infrastructures and facilities. There are

three main consequences of the 50s planning that have shaped part of the urban landscape of

Zuera. Firstly, there were intensive modifications on the land allocated as no-developable like

El Campillo, Las Lomas and Las Galias (see Map 1). Secondly, the most consolidated area of

Zuera, its centre o "casco viejo", undertook a strong densification due to the fact of the

emergence of a new typology of suburban buildings (Figure 9), and as a result, its urban scene

and quality of life diminished. Finally, a part of “El Ensanche” (see Map 1) was built on the

hillslope, an action completely outside of the laws and ordinances established by the plan.

32

Figure 9 Suburban blocks in Candevanía Street (Zuera) [photo by Gonzalo Bullón, 1980].

Almost 30 years later, the new local authorities decided to make a new urban planning with the

aim to solve the problems resulted from the first plan. They found that the village had major

needs and pathologies like absence of urban infrastructures, open space and greenspace, and the

aforementioned extremely densification of the town's centre. The new Plan General did not

want to be a simple lineup planning, they wanted it to be a tool as well as a medium to change

the village's environment, and more concretely the urban milieu and, as a result, enhance the

quality of life of the villagers. Therefore, this planning attempted not to be just a sketch, but

program of key actions, supported by a social and economic study. From the point of view of

the land classification, the new planning is conservative. In contrast, the new plan delivered

several essential urban facilities and services like a high school, a nursery and a sports centre.

33

Figure 10 Zuera’s public swimming pool, 1983.

To summarize, the main goals of the 1980s plan were to classify and consolidate the urban

surface of “El Ensanche” and to improve its urban infrastructure; to deliver the necessary

facilities which the residents of Zuera needed: sports (swimming pool and sports centre; Figure

10), educational and cultural (high school and library) and administrative facilities (new town

hall); to create a new network system of open space and greenspaces such as the Parque

Municipal near the River Gállego (see Map 1); to improve the urban landscape, modifying the

use of some streets, narrow alleys ("callizos") and squares ("plazas"); and finally, to diminish

the urban land-use in the town centre. As soon as the lifespan of the Plan General of 1980 was

over it was decided to undertake a revision and also an ulterior modification. The main actions

were the outline of the national road 123, the enlargement of the industrial land, the urban

developable land between Zuera and “El Campillo”, and in “Las Lomas”.

34

Figure 11 The new public promenade at the banks of the River Gallego, Zuera.

In recent years, there have been two major developments in Zuera. The first is the housing

project called “Zuera Sur” at the southeast of the town (see Map 1). This has consisted in the

construction of several big blocks of residential houses. All the routes and squares of this new

area were named as seas (streets) and oceans (avenues) of the World. In addition to this, urban

facilities such as an elementary school and a big square were provided. At the same time, the

south bank of the River Gállego was regenerated (see Map 1; Figure 11). The architects

designed a new public promenade as well as a bullfight arena (Shannon, 2006).

4.2. Research design

The research design of this project can be divided in five main stages: (i) street prospection; (ii)

measuring street walkability and accessibility factors; (iii) creation of walkability and

accessibility indexes; (iv) creation of a walkability and accessibility cartography; and (v)

35

validation of the resulting maps and indexes. The following figure (Figure 12) illustrates the

scheme of the research design undertook in the present work.

Figure 12 Scheme of the research design of the study.

36

Street Prospection

The prospection of the streets of Zuera was carried out during the last week of May and

consisted in walking through all the streets of the town in order to generate a basic cartography,

on the one hand, and on the other, to select those variables which seemed to have an effect on

the street accessibility and walkability.

- Generation of a basic street cartography

The basic street map was the fundamental skeleton in which the variables of study will be

represented. Therefore, it should be the very accurate and simple. For it generation, it was used

only two elementary components. The first was the aerial picture of 1997 (see Map 1) and the

other was a simple but updated paper street map.

- Selection of accessibility and walkability factors

As discussed in the Introduction, there is a wide variety of variables which urban geographers

have used for measuring street walkability and accessibility, including street design and

network, block size, land-use mix, pedestrian perceptions, residential density, slope or sidewalk

quality. In this context, the scope of this project was limited to those variables which were

associated with the urban scene of a daily walk. In other words, the research was interested in

those street features which were in closer contact with the pedestrian, the “walkscape” of Zuera.

These included only one physical environmental factor, the slope; and seven urban

environmental factors: traffic load, on-street park acreage, sidewalk quality and width,

pedestrian comfort amenities (trees, benches, lamps and trash bins), disabled accessibility

structures and physical barriers. In a summarized way, Table 1 shows a briefly depiction of

every variable as well as the range of values and the name of the indexes which it is part.

37

Table 1 Variables’ name, description, value’s range and index in which they are included.

Variable Description Value Index*

Slope Presence or absence of slope 0, 1 DAI, DWI

Traffic load Number of car lanes 0, 1, 2 WSI, DWI, WI

On-street park acreage Number of on-street parking lots 0, 1, 2 WSI, DWI, WI

Sidewalk quality Scale of the condition of the sidewalk 0, 1, 2, 3 SQI, DWI, WI

Sidewalk width Scale of the width of the sidewalk 0, 1, 2, 3 WSI, DWI, WI

Pedestrian comfort amenities Number of street amenities such as trees, benches, street

lamps and trash bins 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 SQI, DWI, WI

Disabled accessibility structures Presence or absence of disabled accessibility structures 0, 1 DAI, DWI

Physical barriers Presence or absence of physical barriers 0, 1 DAI, DWI

*DAI = Disabled Accessibility Index; DWI = Disabled Walkability Index; WSI = Walking Space Index; SQI = Street Quality Index; and

WI = Walkability Index.

Furthermore, it can be found in the Appendix several additional pictures illustrate examples of

the values of some problematic variables. On the one hand, Figures 29 and 30 shows multiple

photographs illustrating the gradient of sidewalk width and quality, and on the other, Figures 31

and 32 are examples of the different disabled accessibility structures as well as physical

barriers.

Measuring walkability and accessibility factors

During the whole month of June I undertook everyday one or two systematic strolls through the

town with the purpose of evaluating the walkability and accessibility variables mentioned in the

last subsection. If the weather was good, in average, the walks had duration of approximately

two hours, and they started and finished at the front of my home door. Even though I tried to

cover the streets or neighborhoods I had not sampled, the resultant routes were very contingent

(see Map 2 to see an example).

38

Map 2 Example of a route undertook during the month of June in order to evaluate the walkability and

accessibility of some of the streets of Zuera.

During these walks I took pictures, notes and completed a walkability and accessibility

Microsoft Excel (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/) matrix of the variables of study for

39

each street. The unit of sample of the research, therefore, was a street. However, if the street had

two clear different stretches this street was decided to be divided. In regard to walkability, I took

photos of both the overall urban scene and also of small details of each street. In addition, I

recorded every important event and even sentences or discussions from the villagers if they

were speaking about the quality of the streets. One of the times, for instance, I had the chance of

speaking with local people (a former major, the butcher, an architect and urban planner and a

civil engineer) about the purpose of my dissertation and I could get very important points.

Regarding accessibility, and more concretely, open space and greenspace accessibility; I took

lots of pictures of the adjacent streets and paths. As noticed in the last subsection, it was decided

that the matrix of the factors of study had to be very simple and their values should be discrete

(see Table 1). In this respect, the majority of them represent the presence or absence of a street

feature, others point the number of a specific structure and others illustrate with a short scale the

quality of a particular street characteristic.

Figure 13 Walking on the streets of Zuera.

40

A very important fact of this methodology was the way which it was made, that is to say by

walking (Figure 13). The purpose of walking was, therefore, as noted in the Literature Review,

to open up inaccessible spaces to research as well as a mode which demonstrates the constrains

of such space. Herein I propose to name this particular methodology –walking for deciphering

the pedestrian landscape– as “walkscaping”.

Creation of walkability and accessibility indexes

In order to express the overall status of the streets of Zuera in terms of accessibility and

walkability, it was decided to elaborate various indexes. The use of indexes is a practice used

within as well as outside of the academic sphere. Gehl Architects (1971), for example, have

created a methodology of analyzing and mapping the public domain. This method, named

“Public space and public life survey”, consisted in measuring both the built environment

(“public space”) and the real use of streets and squares by citizens (“public life”). In addition,

there is an increasing number of community initiatives such as “Walk Score”

(http://www.walkscore.com/) in the UK and “Rate My Street” (http://ratemystreet.co.uk/) which

aims to promote “walkable” streets and neighborhoods. The last one (Figure 14), for example,

is based on an open and very simple Internet application through which people can rate or give a

score streets for different fields (safety, disabled accessibility, sidewalk width…) in order to

evaluate its walkability.

41

Figure 14 Screen-shot from the home web of “Rate My Street” (http://www.ratemystreet.co.uk/).

At the end of the study I developed five different indexes: Walking Space Index (WSI), Street

Quality Index (SQI), Walkability Index (WI), Disabled Accessibility Index (DAI) and Disabled

Walkability Index (DWI). The equations of these five indexes as well as a brief description of

each of them it can be found in the next lines. It is necessary to point out that in order to

calculate them; it has been necessary to ponder certain variables due to the fact that some factors

had more importance for walking than others. Furthermore, in some of them it was needed as

well to use a constant (K) to transform the lowest value into zero.

The first one, the Walking Space Index (WSI), is as estimation of the available space for

walking. More specifically, it is the relationship between the pedestrian and the motorized

space. On the one hand, the variable Sidewalk width has a positive effect on this index, factors

such as Traffic load and On-street park acreage, on the other, affects it negatively:

WSI = Sidewalk width*3 –Traffic load – On-street park acreage*3 + K(5)

Secondly, the status of the street was determined by the Street Quality Index (SQI). In essence,

the SQI is the result of the sum of the values of Sidewalk quality and Pedestrian comfort

42

amenities (trees, benches, lamps and trash bins) which attempts to illustrate de adequacy and

comfortable of the walking landscape:

SQI = Sidewalk quality + Pedestrian comfort amenities

The last two indexes, the WSI and SQI, were combined in order to create a new third one, the

Walkability Index (WI). The integration of these two indexes is an attempt to two important

walkability dimensions, namely, space for walking and quality of the urban scene:

WI = WSI + SQI + K(-2)

The remaining indexes are associated with the access and walkability of disabled people to the

streets. On the one hand, the Disabled Accessibility Index (DAI) is an estimation of the street

openness for disable people. Therefore, Disabled accessibility structures such as smooth and

colored ramps have a positive impact on this index. Conversely, hilly streets represented by the

variable Slope as well as architectural barriers and obstacles embodied by the variable Physical

barriers have a negative influence.

DAI = Disabled accessibility structures – 3*[Slope + Physical barriers] + K(+6)

The Disabled Walkability Index (DWI), on the other hand, is a measure of the street walkability

for disabled people. This index is the result of the combination of three indexes, DAI, WSI and

SQI:

DWI = DAI + WSI + SQI

Creation of a walkability and accessibility cartography

The third stage of the design was to represent the values of the variables of study as well as the

synthetic indexes in a new cartography. During the following months and using ESRI’s ArcGIS

(http://www.esri.com/) and open-source software called Quantum GIS (http://www.qgis.org/),

the final matrix was implemented onto the basic cartography and as a result 13 different

43

cartographies were generated, eight maps for the variables and four for the indexes. The

technique consisted in a hybrid which combines an aerial photograph of the landscape of Zuera

with the resulting vector linear maps from the study. On the one hand, the aerial photo was

transformed into black and white in order to give more contrast to the overall document. The

linear features of each map, on the other hand, were represented with contrasted colors and with

some degree of transparence to facilitate the localization. The outcome was altered digitally

with Adobe Photoshop (http://www.adobe.com/) in order to improve the quality and

presentation of the map-drawings. Finally, a descriptive analysis with Microsoft XLStat

(http://www.xlstat.com/) of the variables and indexes were carried out.

Validation of the resulting indexes and cartographies

Finally, during the 11th and the 14th of August the validation of the indexes was carried out

(Figure 15). This was based on another several walks through the town in order to check

whether the resulting values were consistent with the walking reality or not. As a consequence,

some minor corrections in the matrix were undertaken.

44

Figure 15 Scans from the research notebook showing the validation tables.

45

4.3. Blog, flickr, twitter, tumblr and facebook

As soon as I started the research, I set up a “blog” as well as a Flickr, Twitter and Facebook

account. On the one hand, the blog was created in the platform called Blogger

(www.blogger.com), the blog application of Google, and on the other hand, a Microsoft’s

software named Windows Live Writer (http://explore.live.com/windows-live-writer) was used as

an intermediate program between the word processor and Blogger.

Figure 16 Home web of the blog “zuera_walkscape” about the present dissertation

(http://zuerawalkscape.blogspot.com/).

The purpose of establishing a blog for the dissertation was three-fold. Firstly, it should serve to

show my progress to my supervisors. Secondly, to keep the inhabitants of Zuera informed. In

order to achieve this, it was necessary to write the project in two languages: English (for the

academic audience) and Spanish (for the local people). Furthermore, the blog dynamics also

allow creating a feedback (from the supervisors, the locals or whoever wanted to write a note)

through the Comment tool. Finally, the third purpose of the blog was to act as a digital

notebook, namely, a virtual space where the research (writings, pictures, maps…) can be storage

for future uses. Further, each post was labeled as the main sections of the project: Introduction,

Literature Review, Methodology and so on. The name of the blog was “zuera_walkscape”

46

(http://zuerawalkscape.blogspot.com/, see Figure 14 to observe a screenshot of the web home)

in regard to the subject/object of study –the “walkscape” of Zuera– and the methodology –

“walkscaping” –. In the home web a series of interesting links were set up. In addition to the

links of the social network account which are described below, there were a link for my digital

profile, the web of the University of Reading, the aforementioned labels, the blog archive, the

web of the hall of Zuera and two community organizations: “Centro de estudios Odón de Buen”

(http://www.odondebuen.org/), a local progressive society, and “paisaje transversal”

(http://www.paisajetransversal.org/), a group of young students interested in urban and

landscape issues.

Moreover, four different social network accounts were created. The main goal of all these

accounts was to promote the weekly posts of the blog to a wide variety of audience. First, I set

up a Flickr account (“Ramiro Aznar Ballarín”) in order to have a placer were shared and stored

all the pictures I have been taking. Second, a Facebook web (“walkscape_zuera”) was made for

keeping my friend and family updated about the progress of the dissertation. Third, a Twitter

profile (“@walkscape_zuera”) was also set up in order to reach a larger and more specialized

audience. Finally, I established an alternative blog (http://zuerawalkscape.tumblr.com/) with the

new service of “micro-blogging” named Tumblr in order to post more artistic documents,

videos, pictures or maps.

Figure 17 A walking pigeon, the symbol of the dissertation.

The last important point to stress is decision to create a symbol or brand to represent this

project. I chose a walking pigeon (Figure 17) to illustrate both the nature of the study –a

research made by walking as well as for improving walkability– and the specific location where

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was carried out -there is a white pigeon in the official flag of Zuera-. The image was a silhouette

made by the artist called “Grea” (http://www.sangrea.net/) from her own picture named ‘Bein a

pigeon’.

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5. Results

5.1. Walkability and accessibility factors

The resulting matrix used in the research can be found in the Appendix (Table 2 associated with

Map 17). This consists in 142 units of study –rows–, in which 139 are streets and stretch of

streets and only three are squares or “plazas” (Plaza de la Concepción, del Castillo and de

España); and 17 variables of study –columns–, in which 12 are direct walkability and

accessibility factors, and the rest five are the aforementioned indexes. Maps 3 – 13 show the

value of the eight accessibility and walkability (Slope, Traffic load, On-street park acreage,

Sidewalk quality and width, Pedestrian comfort amenities, Disabled accessibility structures,

Physical barriers) for each of the streets of Zuera.

Map 3 illustrates the presence and absence of slope in the avenues of Zuera. There are two

important points to highlight in regard to the topography of streets. On the one hand, the

descriptive statistical analysis, as can be observed in the map, points that there are almost the

same number of hilly (73) as flat streets (69). On the other hand, it can be argued that the

distribution of steep routes shows two clear patterns: (i) a clear concentration in the area of “El

Ensanche”; and (ii) logically, while the majority of the flat streets are found parallel to the River

Gállego, most of uneven streets are distributed perpendicular to the river.

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Map 3 Slope.

In regard to the traffic load, Map 4 shows that the vast majority present one lane for motorized

vehicles (104). The streets with two lanes are the second in importance (26) and are

concentrated in the new developed area of “Zuera Sur” and the big arteries such as Av. Pirineos,

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Zaragoza and Candevanía. Finally, only 11 routes lack of any traffic lane. These were narrow

pedestrian “callizos”, “plazas” and boulevards.

Map 4 Traffic load.

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The distribution of on-street parking lots is shown in Map 5. On the one hand, most of the

streets have at least one on-street car parking (81), but only a five of them have surface for

Map 5 On-street park acreage.

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parking in either side of the road; and on the other, this cartography points that the majority of

lines without parking surface (61), as with the Slope, are allocated parallel to the river.

Map 6 Sidewalk quality.

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The sidewalk quality, which is presented in Map 6, varies in relation to a clear gradient. The

streets with better sidewalk conditions (63) are mainly distributed in the new built areas of

“Zuera Sur” and “Las Balsas” (see Map 1). In contrast, the sidewalks with the poorest

conditions (26) are found in “El Ensanche”. Between these two extremes, the majority of the

streets of the village centre (53) have an intermediate quality.

Map 7 illustrates the sidewalk width of the streets of Zuera. Once more the streets with lowest

values (29) were concentrated in the west side of the town. In addition, there is a few streets

with very narrow or absence of sidewalks spotted around the core centre such as Calle Navas.

The majority of the paths have middle values (67) but there is also an important amount of

streets with sidewalks in which three or more pedestrians can walk together (46).

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Map 7 Sidewalk width.

The number of pedestrian comfort amenities (benches, lamps, trees and trash bins) for each

street is illustrated in Map 8. There are only three streets with no pedestrian amenity: Mar

Báltico, Donantes and the second stretch of Ramiro I. The rest of the avenues have one (48) –

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which is generally street lamps–, two (32), three (30) or four (29) of these amenities and its

distribution has not shown a clear pattern.

Map 8 Pedestrian comfort amenities.

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In regard to the provision of structures for disable access, Map 9 shows again the dichotomy

between the new developed areas (“Zuera Sur” and “Las Balsas”, see Map 1) which shown a

Map 9 Disabled accessibility structures.

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large amount of streets with such amenities, and “El Ensanche” which is not correctly provided

for disabled people. In the town centre, on the other hand, disabled access structures are mostly

presented in the main avenues such as Candevanía, Av. Pirineos, Jorge Luna y Zaragoza. Above

all, it is crucial to point out that the number of streets with disabled accessibility structures (87)

is larger than the ones without them (55).

Finally, more than a third part of the streets of Zuera (49) has some kind of physical barrier. In

regard to their spatial distribution (Map 10), it can be argued that it does not present a clear

pattern. Nevertheless, in the centre, it can be observed again the pattern in relation to the river.

Namely, the streets which run parallel to the river have generally some architectural barriers, but

the streets which are located perpendicular to it are free of these limitations. Finally, on the one

hand, Zuera has 93 streets without any kind of obstacles, and on the other, it has 49 with some

physical obstruction.

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Map 10 Physical barriers.

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5.2. Walkability and accessibility indexes

The next five figures (Figures 18 – 22) show the range and distribution of values for each

index. The following maps (Maps 11 – 15), on the other hand, show the spatial distribution of

the values of the different indexes implemented in this study. In the first place, the spectrum of

values of the Walking Space Index (WSI) range between 0 and 14 with a mean of 7.15, its

histogram (Figure 18) shows a three-peak distribution: the first located among 0 and 2, the

second, between 4 and 8, and the last, between 12 and 14.

Figure 18 Histogram of the Walking Space Index (WSI).

The values of every street of Zuera for the WSI are represented in Map 11. According to this

index, the areas with the lowest space for walking are situated in “El Ensanche”, the streets of

the town centre located parallel to the river, specially Calle Navas (WSI=1) and the lowest part

of “La Loma” which held the street with the lowest value (WSI=0), Val del Rey. In contrast, the

results show that the highest values of pedestrian space in Zuera are mainly located in some

sections of the town centre such as “plazas” (Plaza de España, de la Concepción y del Castillo)

and “callizos” –most of them runs perpendicular to the river– (Pintor Mariano Oliver Aznar, for

example), “Zuera Sur” and the highest part of “La Loma” (Loma Blanca and Val Alta, both

outside any map showed in the present work).

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Map 11 Walking Space Index (WSI).

The Street Quality Index (SQI) has a range between 0 and 7 with a mean in 4.26, the histogram

(Figure 19), on the other hand, presents a distribution with a peak between the medium and

highest values.

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Figure 19 Histogram of the Street Quality Index (SQI).

Moreover, in Map 12 can be observed that streets of Zuera with poorest quality in relation to

pedestrian amenities and sidewalk conditions are situated in “El Ensanche” and part of the town

centre, Ramiro I and Calle Donantes both with SQI = 0 are the best example of this. In

opposition, “Zuera Sur” (Mar Egeo, for instance), large avenues such as Candevanía and

Zaragoza, the pedestrian “plazas”, the promenade of Bulevar Ramonville, and again, the top-hill

of “La Loma” were the areas with the highest weight of this index (SQI = 7).

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Map 12 Street Quality Index (SQI).

These two indexes were combined and the result was the Walkability Index (WI), this presents

values ranging from 0 to 19 and its mean is 9.41. The distribution in intervals of the WI in a

histogram is shown in Figure 20. According to this, the most frequent values are concentrated

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in a range between 6 and 15; and more concretely, among 9 and 12. Namely, the majority of the

streets present an intermediate weight of this index and only a minority is found to have extreme

values.

Figure 20 Histogram of the Walkability Index (WI).

According to Map 13, the boroughs with the lowest capacity for walking in Zuera are located in

“El Ensanche” and at the base of “La Loma”. In this group, the streets with the lowest value of

WI (0) are Los Rincones, San José de Calasanz, Doña Petronila and Alfonso I. It is possible to

find also streets with very poor conditions for walking in the town centre. For instance, the

average weight of its five main avenues (Suñol, Navas, Mayor, San Pedro and Conserans) is

4.8, a quantity lower than the mean (9.41) and far lower from the highest value (19).

In contrast, the relatively new neighborhoods of “Zuera Sur” and the highest section of “La

Loma” have the streets with better suitability for pedestrian movement. What is more, the

streets of Val Alta and Loma Blanca as well as some of the town “plazas” (Plaza de la

Concepción and del Castillo) are found to be the best places to walk in Zuera (WI = 19).

Similarly, the majority of the pedestrian routes (Caballeros Templarios, Pintor Mariano Oliver

Aznar or Cruz Roja) as well as centric “callizos” (San Juan, Zufaria, Carruez de Blas, El Salz

and so on) are found among the streets with the best conditions for walking; both type of

pathways, as mentioned several times above, are located perpendicular to the River Gállego. In

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fact, the results show that the position of a street in relation to the river (or an urban

watercourse) is a key determinant concerning its walkability. In this respect, the green walkway

Map 13 Walkability Index (WI).

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of Bulevar de Ramonville (WI = 19), close to the artificial channel called “Acequía de

Candevanía”, and the Calle Andrés Cuartero and Parque Fluvial (WI = 14, both), near to the

River Gállego, are a good example of this pattern.

The DAI has an interval of values which ranges between 0 and 7, and a mean of 4.04.

Surprisingly, the histogram of the values of the DAI (Figure 21) presents a discrete distribution

with no street having a value of 2 or 5, with the highest peak in the middle of the graph.

Figure 21 Histogram of the Disabled Accessibility Index (DAI).

The spatial analysis of Map 14 illustrates some interesting points regarding disabled

accessibility to the streets of Zuera. First, some centric streets such as Los Santos, Club

Juventud, Calle Navas or Suñol are characterized by their poorest conditions for disabled access

(DAI = 0). Another important area which lacks of disabled accessibility is found in the

northwest side of “El Ensanche”, especially the closest parallel streets to Candevanía (Nra.

Señora del Salz, Miguel de Zufaria, José Sanz and Alfonso I). Similarly, the routes which

connect the “Parque Municipal” and “Fluvial” with “La Loma” such as Las Balsas, San Miguel

and Barrio de San Miguel are found to be very unfriendly for disabled people (DAI = 0).

On the opposite side of the spectrum, the more open streets are found again in the new built

areas of “Zuera Sur” and “Las Balsas”. In addition, some squares of the village like Plaza del

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Castillo, de la Concepción and de España present as well the best conditions for disabled

people.

Map 14 Disabled Accessibility Index (DAI).

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Finally, the Disabled Walkability Index or DWI presents the larger variation, between 0 and 26,

and a mean in 13.44. Its histogram (Figure 22) shows that the highest frequency is found in

intermediate values, especially between 6 and 12, and 15 and 18.

Figure 22 Histogram of the Disabled Walkability Index (DWI).

Map 15 shows similar patterns concerning disabled walkability as commented for the rest of the

indexes. In this regard, disabled walkability is found very constraint in “El Ensanche”, the

centric streets parallel to the river and the lowest part of “La Loma”. Being the streets of San

José de Calasanz (DWI = 0), San Miguel (DWI = 2), Los Rincones (DWI = 3) or Calle Navas

(DWI = 6) the best examples to illustrate this disabling spaces.

Almost the same result can be found regarding the best pathways for disabled walkability. Once

again the best areas for walking are located close to watercourses (Bulevar Ramonville, Parque

Fluvial and Alcalde Andrés Cuartero); in some of the centric “callizos” (San Juan, El Salz and

Zufaria) as well as from “Zuera Sur” (Mar Egeo, Océano Índico, Mar de Tasmania and so on)

which are situated perpendicular to the river; in the squares or “plazas” (Plaza de España, de la

Concepción and del Castillo); and finally, in the big avenues such as Candevanía and Zaragoza,

both with a DWI value of 18.

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Map 15 Disabled Walkability Index (DWI).

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6. Discussion

The structure of this section is subdivided in four parts. On the one hand, the findings of the

study are discussed in the first two. In the last two parts, on the other hand, the potential and

limitations of the methodology implemented in the research are analyzed. While the first is

focused on the pedestrian accessibility and walkability, the second focuses on the analysis of the

disabled accessibility and walkability of the streets of Zuera. In the third part, the techniques

used in this project, namely, walking and mapping, are discussed. Finally, the fourth analyzes

the advantages and disadvantages of using a blog and other digital tools as pivotal elements in

the current research.

6.1. Pedestrian accessibility and walkability

In this project, pedestrian accessibility is mainly analyzed by the street space which citizens

have available for walking, and hence, it is conceived as the physical possibility to use the street

for this use. In order to measure it, it has used the WSI, an index based on the relationship

between the available sidewalk surface and the car and parking coverage. The spatial

distribution the sidewalk width, showed in Map 7, suggests that in the majority of streets of “El

Ensanche” as well as in the main arteries of the town centre (Conserans, Mayor, Navas, San

Pedro and Suñol) there is little space for walking. In fact, the WSI mean of these centric streets

is 5 –the global mean is 7.15, and the maximum value, 14–, a good indicator of the lack of

pedestrian accessibility in this particular area of Zuera (Map 11). This is especially dramatic in

the case of Calle Navas. As one woman who was “trying” to walk in this particular street said,

“Esta calle es matadora” [“This street is killing me”]. The reason of this deficit of walking space

is due to the combination of several factors. The first of them is the narrow width of their

sidewalks (Map 7). This little space is even more reduced by the intersection of the rest of

agents, the large amount of garage ramps (see Figure 27, and 32 b in Appendix) and the

disturbance provoked by on-street parking (Map 5) and traffic (Map 4).

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All of them have as the main character the car. Garage ramps are one of the most conspicuous

elements of the streets of Zuera and they can be considered as symbols of the car dominance of

the town’s surfaces. These “wheel” or “tire” prints on the village’s sidewalks are sources of

pedestrian insecurity, and most importantly, they can be cause of discomfort for most street

wayfarers (CEDEX, 2009). In addition to garage access ramps, other physical barriers such as

safety structures, traffic signals and lights, dumpsters or recycling containers (see Figure 32 a –

f in Appendix) could diminish the walking space. The next factor responsible for the partial

reduction of the space of pedestrian walking is the presence of on-street parking in almost every

area of the town (Map 5). In fact, in some streets like Calle Suñol (Figure 23), the sidewalk is

so narrow and the parked cars are so closed to the façades that pedestrians are force to use the

road pavement.

Figure 23 The walking space of Calle Suñol is so reduced because of the narrow sidewalk surface and the

obstruction of the parked cars that the inhabitants prefer to walk on the roadbed.

This “expulsion” is only temporal because pedestrian have to come back to the shelter of the

sidewalks because of the car traffic. In this regard, it can be heard from some local mothers on

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the street. In Calle Agustín Perez and Conserans, for instance, I could hear mothers saying to

their children things like “¡Súbete a la acera!” [“Stay on the sidewalk!”] or “¡Tener cuidado con

los coches que pasan!” [“Be careful with the cars!”], sentences very similar to those written by

Jane Jacobs almost 50 years ago in her chapter about the importance of assimilating children by

city streets (1993: 103). In fact, she found that many great American cities have suffered the

“erosion” of their sidewalks and streets by the presence of private automobiles (1993: 441-484).

In fact, pedestrian are not completely safe in their “realm”. In several streets of the town centre

such as Calle Mayor and Conserans I could see many times cars climbed on the edge of the

sidewalk in order to avoid contacting with the parked cars. The so-called erosion of city streets

has been spreading over the majority of Occidental cities and towns. Nowadays, streets are the

kingdom of cars instead of people. The car dominance in the streets of Zuera is a clear reflection

of what Joan Olmos (2008: 11, emphasis mine) have called the ‘automobile revolution’,

“where fluidity and the capacity of the road to transport, have more importance over any other

function and imposing, little by little, a substantial change in the street’s design, reducing the

walking space, restricting the citizen’s rank to pedestrians”.

Aesthetics and street quality are environmental aspects that can both encourage and discourage

citizens to walk on the sidewalks (Duncan & Mummery, 2005; Ewing et al., 2006; Cerin et

al., 2007). In this project, street quality has been measured by using the index named SQI which

combines two key elements: the conditions of the street sidewalks and the presence of

pedestrian comfort amenities. According to Map 6, the sidewalks of Zuera are in good

conditions with the exception of “El Ensanche”, which presents the streets with the worst

pedestrian space. This was mainly the result of the bad urbanism carried out in the 50s. In this

context, very bad paved streets and narrow and poorly equipped sidewalks are among the main

byproducts of these undersigned experiences.

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Zuera is also fairly provided of pedestrian comfort amenities such as street lamps, trash bins,

trees and benches (Map 8). Many academics have demonstrated the positive effect of these

street pedestrian structures on walking (Gehl et al., 2006; Cao et al., 2006; Rodríguez et al.,

2009). In the present study, I have noticed the importance of benches as local meeting points

where people, and especially elderly people, sit, play cards or “petanca” and chat. These

benches can be found in some stretches at Los Santos with Pirineos, at several points of

Candevanía and Plaza del Castillo or in the regenerated pedestrian square at Jorge Luna with

Pirineos (Figure 24). In this respect, it would be very interesting to investigate the historical,

cultural and environmental factors that encourage people to gather in these particular benches.

Figure 24 Older people playing “petanca” and chatting in the new regenerated pedestrian square at the

cross of Calle Jorge Luna and Avenida Pirineos.

The importance of regenerating “El Ensanche”, and especially its streets and sidewalks, is

crucial. As noticed by Jane Jacobs (1993: 37): “[s]treets and their sidewalks, the main public

places of a city, are its most vital organs. Think of a city and what comes to mind? Its streets. If

a city’s streets look interesting the city looks interesting; if they look dull, the city looks dull”;

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what is more, if a city’s streets look unfriendly and ugly, the city looks unfriendly and ugly. As

a result, people do not use their streets, do not walk on their sidewalks, they rather use the car in

order to pass quickly through this unfriendly and ugly streetscape.

Finally, walkability is conceived herein as the accessibility to the available walking space and

the quality of this. In order to illustrate the relationship between these two elements, in this

study the WSI and the SQI were combined to get the WI, a synthetic indicator of the walking

capacity of a particular street. According to this index, Zuera has both walkable as well as non-

walkable areas.

On the one hand, the majority of walkable streets can be found in the new built areas of “Zuera

Sur”, “La Loma” and in lesser extent, in “Las Balsas”. Among these, “Zuera Sur” is the project

more recently developed in the village. It is based on several big residential blocks characterized

by low population density. It also lacks of primary uses such as shops, cafes, restaurants, bars…

as well as most of the key public services. Furthermore, as well as the other three boroughs, it is

situated in one of the borders of the town (Map 1). These five factors (big and new blocks, low

density, lack of primary uses and public services, and border location) provokes that, despite

having the best conditions for walking, almost nobody can be found walking in the streets. In

fact, during my urban explorations I found more snails than pedestrians on the sidewalks

(Figure 25). That is to say, the streets were almost completely empty of pedestrians, they were

“depeopled”. This result is not new. According to Jacobs (1993), the combination of the first

four conditions has been demonstrated to be the generation of diverse and livable districts and

cities. Therefore, the lack of all of them can result in a complete decay. In addition, “Zuera

Sur”, as well as the other two projects, is situated in one of the village’s border. This, she goes

on to argue, produce even more emptiness because they are considered dead ends by street

users. In the same sense, the current academic literature also supports the fact that low

residential density district, new big blocks and/or scarce land primary use mix can discourage

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citizens for using their streets for walking (Southworth, 1997; Leyden, 2003; Ackerson, 2005;

Besser & Dannerber, 2005; De Bourdeauhuij et al., 2005; Leslie et al., 2005; Li et al., 2005;

Gehl et al., 2006; Moudon et al., 2006; Cerin et al., 2007; CEDEX, 2009; Rodríguez et al.,

2009).

Figure 25 Several snail shells rest on the sidewalks of “Zuera Sur”, a reflection of the emptiness of its

streets.

The findings also show a repeatedly pattern based in the position of the streets in relation to the

River Gállego. In the town centre as well as in other “suburban” areas, those streets located

perpendicular to the river present better conditions for walking than those situated parallel to it

(Map 13). The former group is constituted practically by narrow “callizos” (Cuartel, El Salz,

Ferriz, San Juan, Salas, Santos, Zufaria…) or pedestrian “plazas” (Plaza de España and de la

Concepción). This group has an average value of WI of more than 13. Because their excellent

capacity for pedestrian walking, a mode of transport low and secure, and their position to the

river, it can be argued that the dynamics of these streets can resemble the sedimentary processes

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which characterized the hillslope systems. Conversely, the latter consist basically in the set of

five centric streets (Calle Conserans, Mayor, Navas, San Pedro and Suñol) which, as discussed

above, have a dramatic lack of walking space. In fact, the average WI of these five streets does

not reach the weight of 7. While the first group operates at a slower pace, similar to the slope

sedimentary processes, the second works at a much faster rhythm due to the fact that these

streets are designed specifically for traffic movement. For this reason, herein it is suggested that

instead of imitating the dynamics of the River Gállego, they look like the other axe which runs

parallel to it at the other side of the town, the A-23 highway: an urbanism more close to the

concept of hydraulics rather than the science of hydrology.

The conflict between sedimentary and erosive processes, that is pedestrians versus cars, is one

of the main sources of tension in most urban societies. In Zuera, the footprint left by cars on the

streets is represented by narrow sidewalks as well as the omnipresence of garage ramps and on-

street parked cars which eventually reduce the pedestrian space. In order to solve the tension

between the foot and the tire, there have been plenty of initiatives, from drastic solutions such as

complete pedestrianization of streets to more flexible alternatives (CEDEX, 2009). In one of the

extremes, ‘carfree’ streets (http://www.carfree.com/) is an alternative based on the elimination

of private automobiles and trucks from the streets while at the same time improving mobility

and reducing its total costs. This could be seen as a drastic action but in the case of narrow

alleys and streets can be seen as the best option. In the other pole, several cities and villages of

Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Holland and England have implemented the concept of “shared

spaces” (http://www.shared-space.org/). The basis of “shared spaces” is the spatial integration

of the wide variety of street users (citizens, cars, public transport, bikes and so on) and its main

objective is centered in improving the security of all of them. These spaces are free of

regulations, thus encouraging the responsible behavior or urbanity of each street user. In Zuera,

this solution could be implemented by eliminating the sidewalks. As a civil engineer told me

having a coffee, in many of the streets of the town, “las aceras ya no tienen sentido en pueblos

como Zuera, y por tanto, ya no son necesarias” [“in Zuera, sidewalks have lost their function,

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and hence, they are not really necessary”]. In the same sense, a local architect and urban planner

pointed out that “es necesario colocar al mismo nivel a los peatones y a los coches” [“cars and

citizens should be at the same level”], that means that pedestrian have not to go down at the

roadbed where they are unsafely. The reality is that this is already happening in the town. The

majority of the inhabitants use the car pavement as pedestrian space (Figure 26), with exception

of the big avenues such as Avenida de Zaragoza and Pirineos, and Calle Jorge Luna and

Candevanía.

Figure 26 People using the space of Calle Mayor as a continuum, without distinguing between pedestrian

and car space.

In addition to these two strategies, other complementary techniques can be implemented in

order to to alleviate the tension between cars and wayfarers such as “woornef” or/and “traffic

calming” when and where they are needed. The term “woornef”

(http://streetswiki.wikispaces.com/Woonerf) is very similar to “shared spaces”, namely, this is

also based in the peaceful coexistence of motorized vehicles, bikes and citizens, but with

priority of the latter and also with an important reduction of the car velocity. This last point was

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also noticed by the local architect, “el problema del coche es en primer lugar la velocidad, y en

segundo, la intensidad” [“the first problema concerning cars is their high velocity, and in the

second place, their intensity”]. In this respect, “traffic calming” (http://www.trafficcalming.org/)

can be conceived as a good option for diminishing vehicle speeds as well as improving safety

and enhancing the quality of street life. In fact, in some streets of Zuera such as Avenida

Pirineos and Zaragoza as well as Calle Candevanía and Jorge Luna can be seen “speed bumps”

and elevated pedestrian intersections (see Figures 43 and 45 in Appendix), two of the most used

measures used in “traffic calming”. However, these soft techniques are not enough. As

commented by the local architect, “es necesario pacificar el tráfico, hacer difícil conducir por el

centro del pueblo, es decir, hacerles la vida imposible a los coches” [“it is necessary to calm the

traffic, to make driving through the center of the village very difficult, thus making cars’ life

impossible”]. Therefore, in addition to these two techniques, other improvements such as

changing the texture of the pavement, the trail design and/or setting road obstacles for driving

(http://www.walkinginfo.org/) should be applied.

Another element to take into account in order to solve or attenuate the conflict between cars and

pedestrians is the problem of on-street parked cars which can reduce drastically the space for

walking (Map 5 and 11). As seen in Figure 23, this fact is especially dramatic in the streets of

the town centre. This problem is not only based on the mere presence of parked cars, the

distribution of them is also source of disputes. In Calle Mayor, for instance, they are aligned in

the west side of the street. According to the butcher who works in the same side where cars are

parked, the distribution was decided at the time of Franco dictatorship. This could be seen as a

good example of the close relationship between the socio-historical and the spatial components

which eventually produces the built environment (Massey, 1996). Herein it is suggested two

drastic and costly solutions. They consist in reducing or even removing on-street parking from

central Zuera, this should be accompanied by the creation of free off-street parking in one or

two empty building sites previously purchased by the town’s Hall.

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All in all, Map 13 can be conceived as the spatial representation of the walkscape of Zuera

(Careri, 2009), a cartography which shows the urban space in which people can or cannot walk

and experience the town. This is based on the combination of the spatial pedestrian accessibility

(Map 11) as well as the quality of the streets of Zuera (Map 12) which can illustrate the micro

elements, surfaces, textures and obstacles which each urban path contains. It is argued that these

final maps can be used as powerful tools for citizen participation in the next town planning in

order to enhance the pedestrian accessibility and walkability conditions of the deficit areas

discovered in the study, and as a result, to improve the life quality of the inhabitants of Zuera.

6.2. Disabled accessibility and walkability

As in most small towns of Europe, Zuera has an important percentage of aged people. As

noticed by several authors (Lavery et al., 1996; Hine, 1999; Hine & Mitchell, 2001; Clarke et

al., 2008), elderly people, and disabled people in general, usually find their mobility and

movement limited by poorly designed urban environment, including narrow and uneven street

pavements and steep steps into shops.

In this study, I have found that Zuera presents disabling spaces in which some streets attributes

can worse the disablement process of specific groups. The lack of disabled accessibility

structures, the presence of steep slopes, and/or physical barriers are the main disabling street

features involve in this urban phenomenon. In regard to the topographic conditions of Zuera,

there are two key points to highlight. First, because the town is situated between the “monte”

and the riverside, most of the hilly streets are located perpendicular to the River Gállego (Map

3). Second, the grade of the slope in the streets on and close to the hill is generally higher than

those which are situated near to the riverside. Therefore, most of the streets parallels to the river

and on the hill side of the village present an uneven topography, and hence, they are considered

urban spaces very unfriendly for people with difficulties of mobility. In this sense, a common

choice in order to solve the differences of height between streets has been based in the

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construction of mechanical elements (CEDEX, 2009). In some cities such as Valparaíso and

Salvador, these systems have been working since the 19th century. Most recently, in Spain, in

order to sort this out lifts, funiculars, ramps or escalators have been installed in places such as

Bilbao, Vitoria or Toledo (ibid ). Nevertheless, these are cities much bigger and with more

resources than Zuera.

Figure 27 Older people walking and chatting on the roadway of Calle Conserans.

Secondly, more than the third part of the streets of Zuera presents at least one sort of physical

barrier (Map 10). These ranges between safety structures, traffic signals and lights, dumpsters,

recycling containers and stairs but the most important street features are the already discussed

garage ramps. It has been argued that these structures reduce the space for walking; this is

especially true for people in wheelchairs, blind or just older people due to the fact that these

architectural obstacles can make them fall. For this reason, as mentioned above, it is very

common to see them walking on the roadway instead of on the sidewalks (Figure 27).

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According to the results (Map 14), the access for disabled people was very limited in “El

Ensanche” and most of the streets of the town centre. However, Zuera has also some streets well

provided to be used by people with some kind of impairments. The walkways of the new

neighborhoods of “Zuera Sur” and “Las Balsas”, some of the big avenues of Zuera, most of the

so-called “callizos” and the two promenades close to the river can be considered as the streets

which have the best condition for disabled accessibility. Most of these areas have streets with

disabled accessibility structures (Figure 31 in Appendix), the majority of them have curb cuts,

colors and/or rough pavement. These structures are sensitive to the diversity of disabilities that

can exist in a city or town, an ‘open-minded’ architectural features which take into account the

different corporealities of the human body (Crossley, 1995).

However, the small number of disabling streetscapes found in the centric areas of the village can

act as insurmountable barriers for accessing to public services as well as peripheral districts. For

example, Los Santos is a “callizo” used by most of the inhabitants who live in the center as a

shortcut to go to the riverside. This route becomes more important during the local festivity

because the town’s Hall usually set up most of the services such as fairs and concerts close to

the river. Similarly, people who attempt to get to the public swimming pools (a little north from

“Parque Fluvial”, see Map 1) from the neighborhoods of “Las Balsas” and “El Ensanche” have

to use streets such as Las Balsas, Barrio San Miguel or San Miguel. Both Los Santos and the

three mentioned streets present specific characteristics which significantly reduce access for

disabled people (Map 14). As a consequence, disabled people are force to use other routes or

decide to use the car. These solutions are based on the discourses that envision disability as a

social burden which is a private, not public responsibility (Imrie, 2000), and also encourages

the aforementioned passage-point urbanism tendency (Greenfield, 2010) in which disabling

street designs guides the user through the town. But because the built environment is the result

of the social and political context, Map 14 could be conceived as a representation of the

“geographies of exclusion” of Zuera (Imrie & Edwards, 2007), to which is possible to detect

those streets or “microgeographies” resulted from ableist politics and practices.

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Similarly, Map 15 could be interpreted as the cartographic representation of mobility

opportunities and limitations for disabled people in Zuera. This drawing is based on the

interaction between pedestrian walkability and disabled accessibility, and hence, most of the

already commented in the discussion of these two parameters can be applied here. Above all,

the existence of a wide diversity of street conditions for disabled movement and mobility points

to Massey’s statement that “geography matters” (Massey, 1996; Massey et al., 1999). In this

sense, for disabled people is not the same to walk through San José de Calasanz in “El

Ensanche” than to walk across a pedestrian square such as Plaza de España. On the one hand,

the first is an example of street which acts as geographical wall for the majority of disabled

people. Likewise, some pathways in the town centre as well as the lowest part of “La Loma”

behave in the same way. These are streets which lack of accessibility and/or present some kind

of environmental limits to the movement of people with physical or mental limitations. This

area has been planned, designed and built according to specific technical standards and

dimensions which are based on the conception of the “normal” or “mobile” body (Imrie, 2000;

2003). Therefore, herein it is argued that these streets could limit the right of people to access, to

walk, and also to experience them (Lefebvre, 1991).

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Figure 28 Several people walk on the “callizo” Zufaria.

Conversely, Plaza de España is a good example of a well provided space where disabled people

can fully experience the town through the act of walking. In fact, other pedestrian squares –or

“plazas” like Plaza de la Concepción or del Castillo) and streets –or “callizos” such as El Salz,

Zufaria, Pintor Mariano Oliver Aznar or Caballeros Templarios– are found to be places where

open-mobility can be promoted and some disabilities can be buffered (Figure 28). In addition to

pedestrian squares and streets, most of the avenues of “Zuera Sur” as well as the green

promenades and big arteries are among these “enabling” urban geographies (Gleeson, 2000).

To summarize, Map 14 and 15 are visual representations of the disabled accessibility and

walkability of the streets of Zuera. As Lynch’s mental maps (1960), these drawings can reveal

the town’s pattern of disabling streets, and hence, they can expose the limitations of the streets

of Zuera for disabled people. Herein it is argued again that these map-drawings have the

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potential to empower citizens, and specifically, disabled community organizations, in order to

change their daily urban reality in some aspects such as disabled accessibility and walkability.

6.3. A map made by walking

The name of this and the next chapter are analogies of Richard Longs’ piece ‘A line made

walking’ (1967), one of the main works which has inspired me during the research. On the one

hand, the present section discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the two methods

implemented in this dissertation, walking and mapping. The following, on the other, focuses on

the supplementary research conducted in the digital sphere.

Herein I first suggest that walking have allowed me to understand the different potentialities

embedded within the streetscape of Zuera. In the first place, this methodology has permitted me

to see Zuera anew, as if I was reading a book for the first time. What is more, I have felt as a

“botanist” on the asphalt (Featherstone, 1998). As an urban explorer, I had the possibility of

deciphering both the opportunities but also the limitations of the micro-streetscape of Zuera

(Phillips, 2005). And, as in any adventure, I have seen good as well as bad things. In this

respect, according to Nigel Thrift (Fenton, 2005: 425), “of course, there are some awful things

afoot in the world. But, if you are sensitive to them, there are other things too”. Therefore, by

walking I have had the privilege of touching and sensing some of the different spatialities and

temporalities which were hidden in the streets of Zuera.

As a result, walking has permitted me to experience the town through the so-called “zenithal

view” (Escobar, 2009), thus guiding me through a complex system of routes set by my personal

and subjective experiences and relations with the urban environment (see Map 2, for example).

Because of this subjective component, the methodology implemented in this study has also a

strong disadvantage. For me, Zuera like any urban area has certain streets which I prefer not to

walk on them. For this reason I passed through them as quickly as possible. This drawback

points two things: a clear subjectivity of the methodology but also how the social context is

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intertwined with the built environment (Massey, 1996; Massey et al., 1999). This gap in the

methodology could be possible to solve using complementary techniques such as surveys and

interviews. However, another option may be to encourage local people to imitate me, and hence,

to walk their streets, as suggested by De Certeau, “to be producers of their own urban texts, to

construct and occupy urban space inventively” (Rossiter & Gibson, 2003). On the other hand,

in addition to understand the town spatialities, walking has also the key to comprehend the

different rhythms of Zuera. This is an interesting point because, as Amin and Thrift (2002

quoted in Middleton, 2009: 1955) points out, the multiple temporalities which compose the

walking space “are the coordinates through which inhabitants and visitors frame and order the

urban experience” and how “the city is often known and negotiated through these rhythms and

their accompanying ordering devices (traffic rules, opening hours, noise control codes…)”. In

this regard, I noticed the different pace of elderly and disabled people, women and men,

children and so on.

Secondly, Zuera thus, has “invited” me to read its streets, but also to write on them, and to map

them. Therefore, the whole methodology can be seen as a bottom-up technique due to the fact

that the data gathered from walking (“from below”) is represented by maps (“from above”). In

other words, in the present work, the observations made from a “zenithal” point of view

(Escobar, 2009) are transformed into a “God’s eye” representation (De Certeau, 2002). The

final maps which resulted from this methodology were made for the purpose of unveiling the

hidden potentials concerning the street accessibility and walkability of Zuera (Amoroso, 2010),

but also to act as powerful tools which the inhabitants of Zuera can contextualize, argument and

support their demands in relation to the lack of walking space. Nonetheless, this last point has

also a problematic counterpart. As pointed in the Literature Review, maps are highly

controversial artifacts (ibid ). Therefore they can be used in a wide diversity of ways and

contexts. In this regard, although my intention was to give them to different community

organizations as well as sending them to the local and regional newspapers, the social context

and the final use of them would vary in very unpredictable ways (Freire & Villar, 2010 ).

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6.4. A research made by blogging

Hand by hand with the processes of walking and mapping I have carried out an alternative

research based on the use of the Internet and the new social networks. Working with blogs and

other digital tools have been a very interesting experience. In the first place, the use of blogging

as a pivotal tool of my research has entailed two important concerns that I considered worthy to

discuss. The first is related with the accessibility problems founded by the local community, and

the second is based on the issues associated with undertaking an investigation between two

different countries, and especially between two different languages. Finally, I will discuss the

potential of using social networks, and especially Twitter, for academic purposes.

Firstly, as mentioned in the Methodology, one of the main purposes of setting up several social

networks accounts in order to get my work to the inhabitants of Zuera. Surprisingly, this

solution was more problematic than I expected. In the first place, in order to read the blog local

people should have access to the Internet. In this respect, I could not find any data of the number

of people which have Internet connection, and hence, which target population has access to my

dissertation. Moreover, for most citizens, as noticed by Krek (2005) the personal benefit of

using digital tools such as blogging is usually low and the cost of participation and the cost of

participation high. As a result, they prefer to ignore the possibility of participation. This social

phenomenon is called “rational ignorane” (ibid). In addition to this and other technical barriers,

the type of obstacles which people have found for accessing the blog has been very diverse. For

instance, the former major told me that he wanted to comment one of my posts but he was not

allowed to do it because he had not been logged in the system. Another person told me that he

stopped reading the blog because its content was becoming too academic. The lack of feedback

from the community people should not be conceived as a complete failure. In fact, this has to

encourage finding another ways and channels in order to engage people in the on-going project.

86

In this regard, I have decided to send a summary of this dissertation to some local and regional

newspapers.

Secondly, it is important to stress the problems regarding doing an intercultural and multilingual

research. In this context, one of the main concerns associated with this processes was

translation. In this study, I have used a sentences and comments made by the inhabitants of

Zuera. A good example can be seen in an expression “Esta calle es matadora” said by a woman

in relation to the bad design of Calle Navas (pp. 68). At first, I decided to translate the whole

sentence knowing that the equivalence was not going to be total and the specific meaning was

going to change: “This street is killing me”. So later I decided to maintain the whole sentence

and add a translation within brackets. This decision was based in the experience and knowledge

of other academics (Smith, 1996; 2003; Watson, 2004; Bracken & Oughton, 2006; Müller,

2007; Crane et al., 2009). Müller (2007), for example, writes that translation is a complex,

political and subjective process. He goes by arguing that different languages structure the reality

in alternative ways and translations generally suffer from not being able to transmit the richness

and diversity of connotations, and hence, it is impossible to achieve full equivalence of meaning

in translation. The sentence “Esta calle es matadora” [“This street is killing me”] is clearly a

local metaphor. In this respect, the street is unable to kill someone. What is “telling” us is

that “this street makes pedestrians’ life impossible” or even that “walking through that particular

street is a real hell”. As mentioned above, all these attempts of seeking of a perfect translation

fail to maintain the true meaning of the comment. Therefore it could be argued that best solution

is to retain the key word of the metaphor: “matadora” or even the whole sentence; and

also attach some explanations like the two which are mentioned two lines above. In doing so,

we are creating new (hybrid) spaces of insight meaning (Smith, 1996), as defined by Crane and

colleagues (Crane et al., 2009: 45), ruptures in knowledge which have the potential to open up

new horizons and eventually create greater understanding.

Finally, I might say that people from different social networks have found this project very

interesting. These Internet users were mainly from Spain but also from quite distant countries

87

such as USA or Chile. The majority of them were “recruited” via Twitter. This new tool of

“microblogging” presents functions, but I would like to highlight its outstanding use for

academic research. In fact, it has been a constant source of academic and non-academic

references, cites, pictures, maps, books, videos, stimuli, and most importantly, feedback. At the

time of writing, the twitter account of “@walkscape_zuera” had posted 382 tweets, listed by 20

people and followed by 120 users. Moreover, lots of tweets have been “retweeted” or cited by

other users. It can be argued that although the blog has been the pivotal element of the project,

the twitter account has played a more important role, thus contacting with concerned users and

promoting the project.

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7. Conclusions

First, the results of this dissertation have outlined that Zuera has some areas with a clear deficit

of pedestrian accessibility and walkability such as “El Ensanche” and the main streets of the

town centre. The lack of walking conditions was a product of the narrowness of the sidewalks

and the presence of numerous garage ramps and on-street parked cars, three factors which are

associated with the car-based urbanism which characterizes the streets of Zuera. In order to

improve this situation, I have suggested some measures like traffic calming structures, shared

spaces, “woornef”, and “carfree” streets. Conversely, the walkways with the highest capacity for

walking were found in the new developed areas of “Zuera Sur”, “La Loma” and “Las Balsas”.

However, these projects lack of pedestrian activity because their lack of land-use diversity,

public services, population density or small blocks.

Second, in regard to disabled accessibility and walkability, the findings have showed a street

pattern made by both enabling and disabling spaces. On the one hand, the pedestrian “plazas”

and “callizos”, the big avenues and promenades, and the new built areas of Zuera present

enabling designs as well as disabled accessibility structures which eventually allow people with

impairments to move freely. On the other hand, the hilly streets of “El Ensanche” and the lowest

section of “La Loma” as well as some centric streets are characterized by poor and narrow

sidewalks, and the presence of different physical barriers, thus reducing the capacity of older

and disabled people to use their streets. Herein I have suggested changing the ableist passage-

point urbanism of Zuera into a new one based on a bodily sensitized architecture which

recognizes the individuated needs and protects the rights of difference.

Third, walking and mapping, the two methods used in this study, have demonstrated the high

potential for understanding and representing the streets of a town or a city. In fact, both have the

capacity of revealing hidden deficits or opportunities from the urban environment. For this

reason, it would be very interesting for the inhabitants of Zuera to imitate these two practices in

order to read and write their own walkscape, and because both walking and mapping are un-

89

finished processes in nature, this will allow the future generations to design their own town

streets.

Finally, the use of a blog as a collaborative tool of research has pointed some important

advantages and disadvantages. While some technical and social barriers have limited the access

to the blog by local people, writing in two different languages has allowed me to understand the

complexities associated with translating. In addition, the use of Twitter as a means of promoting

my work has been a very rewarding experience. In this regard, Twitter has permitted me to

create a network of people, organizations and knowledge.

90

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9. Appendix

9.1. Matrix

Table 2 Matrix of the variables and indexes used in the study.

ID Name of the street / Var. TL OPA SW SQ DAS PB S T L B TB PCA WSI SQI WI DAI DWI

1 23 de abril 1 1 2 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 7 5 10 7 17

2 Agustín Perez 1 1 2 2 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 7 3 8 0 8

3 Agustina de Aragón 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 2 1 2 1 1 2

4 Alcalde Andrés Cuartero 1 1 3 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 4 10 6 14 6 20

5 Alfonso I 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 4 4

6 Almudevar 1 0 0 3 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 4 6 4 10

7 Antonio Machado 1 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 3 5 3 8

8 Aragón 1 1 2 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 7 5 10 7 17

9 Bajada Larque 1 0 2 3 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 10 4 12 4 16

10 Baltasar Gracián 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 1 2 1 4 5

11 Barrio San Miguel 2 0 1 3 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 2 6 5 9 0 9

12 Blas Carruez 1 0 3 3 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 2 13 5 16 4 20

13 Bulevar de Ramonville 0 0 3 3 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 4 14 7 19 4 23

14 Caballeros de San José 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 1 3 4 7

15 Caballeros Templarios 1 0 3 3 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 4 13 7 18 4 22

16 Camino de San Juan 1 1 2 2 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 2 7 4 9 0 9

17 Canalillo 2 0 3 3 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 12 4 14 4 18

18 Candevanía 2 2 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 4 6 7 11 7 18

19 Castejón 1 0 3 3 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 2 13 5 16 4 20

20 Cinco Villas 1 1 1 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 4 5 7 7 14

21 Club Juventud 1 0 1 3 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 7 4 9 0 9

22 Conserans 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 3 5 3 8

23 Constantino Serrato 1 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 7 3 8 3 11

24 Corona de Aragón 1 1 2 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 7 5 10 7 17

25 Cortes de Aragón 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 3 5 3 8

26 Costitución 1 1 2 3 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 3 7 6 11 0 11

27 Cruz Cubierta 1 0 3 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 13 4 15 3 18

28 Cruz Roja 1 0 3 2 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 4 13 6 17 3 20

29 Cuartel 1 0 3 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 13 3 14 4 18

30 Donantes 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 2 3 5

31 Doña Petronila 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 3 3

32 Dos Aguas 1 1 2 3 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 4 7 7 12 7 19

33 El Azud 0 1 2 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 8 4 10 7 17

34 El Calvario 2 0 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 12 2 12 4 16

35 El Castellar 1 0 3 3 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 2 13 5 16 4 20

36 El Cormorán 2 1 1 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 3 4 5 3 8

37 El Estatuto de Autonomía 2 1 2 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 6 5 9 7 16

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38 El Justicia 1 1 2 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 7 5 10 7 17

39 El Molino 1 1 2 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 7 5 10 3 13

40 El Salz 1 0 3 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 3 13 5 16 7 23

41 El Temple 1 1 2 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 7 5 10 7 17

42 El Voluntariado 2 1 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 4 9 4 11 4 15

43 Fernando el Católico 1 1 2 3 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 7 7 12 0 12

44 Ferriz 1 0 3 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 13 3 14 4 18

45 Ferriz (2nd stretch) 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 3 7 3 8 3 11

46 Francisco Bayeu 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 2 4 2 4 1 5

47 Francisco de Goya 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 4 4 4 6 4 10

48 Francisco Quevedo 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 3 1 3 2 7 9

49 Fueros de Aragón 2 0 1 2 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 3 6 5 9 3 12

50 Garcelís 1 0 3 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 13 4 15 7 22

51 Gastón de Bearn 1 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 3 5 4 9

52 General Palafox 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 7 3 8 6 14

53 Hermanos Argensola 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 2 4 2 4 0 4

54 Huerta Chica 2 2 2 2 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 3 3 5 6 4 10

55 Huesca 2 1 2 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 6 5 9 6 15

56 Independencia 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 4 6 8 1 9

57 Jaime I 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 2 1 4 5

58 Jorge Luna 2 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 4 9 6 13 6 19

59 José Sanz 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 3 5 3 8

60 Juan Bonal 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 4 4 6 3 9

61 Juan de Lanuza 1 1 2 3 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 7 4 9 4 13

62 La Aceña 2 1 2 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 6 4 8 3 11

63 La Alberca 1 1 1 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 3 4 5 7 7 14

64 La Noria 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 2 4 5 7 1 8

65 La Paul 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 2 4 1 5

66 Las Balsas 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 4 5 7 0 7

67 Las Balsas (2nd stretch) 1 1 1 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 3 4 6 8 3 11

68 Las Pedrosas 2 1 2 3 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 6 4 8 4 12

69 Leciñena 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 2 1 4 5

70 Libertad 2 0 2 3 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 2 9 5 12 0 12

71 Loma Blanca 2 1 2 3 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 4 6 7 11 4 15

72 Loma Blanca - Val Alta 0 0 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 14 7 19 1 20

73 Loma Rajada 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 2 1 3 4

74 Los Alcabones 1 1 2 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 3 7 6 11 4 15

75 Los Arenales 1 1 1 2 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 3 4 5 7 4 11

76 Los Casales 1 1 2 2 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 7 4 9 4 13

77 Los Olivares 1 1 1 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 4 5 7 4 11

78 Los Rincones 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 3 3

79 Los Santos 1 0 1 2 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 7 3 8 0 8

80 Luis Buñuel 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 1 3 3 6

81 Mar Adriático 1 0 3 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 3 13 6 17 4 21

105


82 Mar Báltico 1 0 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 3 14 7 21

83 Mar Cantábrico 2 2 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 3 6 6 10 7 17

84 Mar Caspio 1 0 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 3 13 6 17 7 24

85 Mar de Tasmania 1 0 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 3 13 6 17 7 24

86 Mar de Timor 1 0 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 3 13 6 17 7 24

87 Mar del Caribe 1 1 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 3 10 6 14 7 21

88 Mar del Norte 1 0 3 3 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 3 13 6 17 4 21

89 Mar Egeo 1 0 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 4 13 7 18 7 25

90 Mar Mediterráneo 2 1 3 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 3 9 6 13 4 17

91 Mar Rojo 1 0 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 3 13 6 17 7 24

92 Mar Tirreno 1 0 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 3 13 6 17 7 24

93 Mayor 1 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 3 5 4 9

94 Medianos 1 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 13 1 12 4 16

95 Miguel Servet 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 1 3 3 6

96 Miguel Zufaria 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 1 3 0 3

97 Moncayo 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 7 1 6 3 9

98 Nª Sra. Del Salz 1 1 2 2 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 2 7 4 9 0 9

99 Navas 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 1 4 3 3 6

100 Océano Antártico 2 1 2 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 3 6 6 10 7 17

101 Océano Ártico 2 1 2 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 3 6 6 10 7 17

102 Océano Atlántico 2 1 2 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 3 6 6 10 7 17

103 Océano Índico 1 0 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 3 13 6 17 7 24

104 Océano Pacífico 2 1 2 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 3 6 6 10 4 14

105 Ontinar 1 1 1 2 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 4 4 6 4 10

106 Parque Deportivo 2 1 2 2 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 6 4 8 4 12

107 Parque Fluvial 1 1 3 2 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 4 10 6 14 7 21

108 Peregrinos 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 2 4 3 7

109 Perena 1 0 3 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 13 3 14 4 18

110 Picallén 1 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 4 5 7 6 13

111 Pintor Mariano Oliver Aznar 0 0 3 3 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 3 14 6 18 4 22

112 Pirineos 2 1 3 2 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 4 9 6 13 4 17

113 Plaza de España 0 0 3 3 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 3 14 6 18 7 25

114 Plaza de la Concepción 0 0 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 4 14 7 19 7 26

115 Plaza del Castillo 0 0 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 4 14 7 19 7 26

116 Puilatos 1 1 1 3 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 4 4 7 9 7 16

117 Ramiro I 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 1 3 3 6

118 Ramiro I (2nd stretch) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 3 3 6

119 Ramón J. Sender 1 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 3 5 3 8

120 Ramón y Cajal 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 3 1 3 2 4 6

121 Refugio 1 0 2 3 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 10 4 12 4 16

122 Romualdo Arana 0 0 3 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 14 1 13 0 13

123 Salas 1 0 3 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 13 3 14 4 18

124 San Jorge 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 3 5 6 11

125 San José de Calasanz 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0

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126 San Juan 0 0 3 2 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 4 14 6 18 7 25

127 San Licer 1 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 7 3 8 3 11

128 San Miguel 1 0 1 2 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 7 3 8 0 8

129 San Miguel (2nd stretc) 1 2 1 2 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 3 2 0 2

130 San Pedro 1 1 1 2 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 4 4 6 8 4 12

131 Sancho Ramirez 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 5 4 4 8

132 Suñol 1 1 2 2 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 4 7 6 11 3 14

133 Tenor Fleta 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 1 3 4 7

134 Teruel 1 1 0 2 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 3 1 5 4 4 8

135 Tres de abril 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 3 5 6 11

136 Val Alta 2 1 3 3 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 4 9 7 14 3 17

137 Val Alta (2nd stretch) 0 0 3 3 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 4 14 7 19 3 22

138 Val del Rey 2 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 4 0 5 3 4 7

139 Vallonés 1 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 13 1 12 4 16

140 Villanueva de Gállego 1 1 1 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 4 4 7 9 3 12

141 Zaragoza 2 2 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 4 6 7 11 7 18

142 Zufaria 1 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 3 13 6 17 6 23

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9.2. Additional maps

Map 16 Study area.

108

Map 17 Street base map.

109

9.3. Additional pictures

Figure 29 Examples of Sidewalk Width (SW): a Baltasar Gracián and b Peregrinos (SW = 0); c Los

Santos and d La Noria (SW = 1); e Constantino Serrato and f San Licer (SW = 2); and, g Perena and h

Candevanía (SW = 3).

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Figure 30 Examples of Sidewalk Quality (SQ): a Los Donantes (SW = 0); b Sancho Ramirez (SW = 1); c

Antonio Machado (SW = 2); and, d Caballeros Templarios (SW = 3).

Figure 31 Examples of Disabled Accessibility Structures (DAS): a Jorge Luna; b Océano Atlántico; c

Bajada Larque; and, d 23 de abril.

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Figure 32 Examples of Physical Barriers (PB): a La Aceña; b Conserans; c Bajada Larque; d Agustín

Perez; e Club Juventud; and f Agustina de Aragón.

Documents

Mapping street accessibility and walkability in Zuera (Zaragoza, Spain)