Exploring urban liveability: the key performance indicators for walkability

Walking refers to the act of moving on foot, and it offers individuals an intimate sense of the urban environment. It reduces harmful emissions and promotes a healthier lifestyle. This underscores the importance of designing a pedestrian-friendly physical environment, incorporating elements such as land use, sidewalk quality as well as street connectivity to encourage and increase walking rates. Walkability is also used as a performance measure, assessing the ability of city streets to promote and encourage walking behaviour in communities. This study proposes a comprehensive framework integrating Indicators, Key Performance, and Key Components to enhance urban walkability. The framework identifies elements influencing the pedestrian experience including safety and security, scenery, comfort, convenience, continuity and visibility, convivial, good health, and climate. This study took a qualitative and quantitative approach using the structured literature review and empirical observations. This methodology identified significant gaps to walkability, including inadequate accessibility, uneven sidewalks, and a lack of shaded walkways, particularly for those with disabilities. Comparative research looking at major cities such as Copenhagen, Seoul, Bangkok, and Singapore for ways to design city streets was carried out. The findings highlight to redesign the city street through expanding green space, and enhancing pedestrian safety. There is need of combining global best practices with local demands to increase walkability in Kuala Lumpur. It highlights the vital role of walkability in enhancing urban quality of life, creating inclusive, dynamic communities, and addressing global sustainability challenges.