Walkability and mobility in medium-size cities: an analysis based on transportation to school

The achievement of the sustainable development goals requires a shift in urban mobility. This article studies the relationship between urban form and modal choices in medium cities. Using advanced techniques of statistical analysis including discriminant models and based on a survey of one thousand secondary school students, the study investigates the association between transportation mode choices and the length of school trips, the walkability of the built environment. The results show how residential density and functional diversity, especially in the surroundings of schools, as well as residential density and road design along school roads are able to explain almost 90% of choices of school trips made either on foot or by car.