Walking offers a wide range of natural benefits, from improving mental and physical health to supporting sustainability. So, why isn’t walking the biggest priority in our urban spaces? The answer is simple: Streets in the United States are not designed to be conducive to the brain’s idea of safety and comfort. By embracing a more peoplecentric, walkable ideology, thoughtful planning can shape how our brains respond to the places we move through, taking into account such factors as cognitive engagement in human navigation, thigmotaxis, and cortisol levels.
ULI spoke with Craig Lewis, placemaking practice group manager at Arcadis, about how prioritizing cognitive engagement in urban design can help create healthier, happier cities that promote connection and community.
Urban Land: What are some of the psychological factors that go into navigating cities?
Craig Lewis: Our brains use visual, physical, and sensory clues to quickly assess our surroundings. The brain is processing 40 to 50 different data points every moment, so this evaluation happens in the blink of an eye. To filter this thinking, the brain creates shortcuts to make sense of its environment, making the first impressions of a space vital in determining whether a journey feels safe, stimulating, and worth continuing. Thigmotaxis also influences how people perceive and navigate their environment.
UL: What is thigmotaxis, and what does it have to do with walkability?
Lewis: Though it may look like an SAT word, thigmotaxis is actually a pretty familiar element of daily life. It’s the behavior of humans—and most other animals—to instinctively seek out edges when moving through space. It defines how we navigate the world, and, for urban planners and designers, can be a useful tool in decision-making when it comes to promoting walkability. From deer lingering at the edge of a forest to people choosing to walk beside storefronts rather than crossing open parking lots, this primal instinct shapes where we feel safe and helps explain why many streets feel so uncomfortable.
For example, in America, many streets work against this natural instinct for comfort with undefined edges, fast-moving traffic, and empty lots, prompting the brain to assume the worst to protect us from potential threats and triggering cortisol production in response to perceived stress. To combat this, the simple incorporation of storefronts with windows, doors, and awnings can make a space feel more inviting. Removing elements that make walking feel scary or overwhelming establishes a corridor of safety and comfort that creates an environment people actually want to walk in.
UL: What causes cortisol production, and how can urban planners avoid its negative impacts?
Lewis: Our brains have an upper and a lower section. The lower brain controls autonomic functions, immediate responses like fight or flight, as well as anxiety, fear, and stress, through the secretion of cortisol. Known as the stress hormone, cortisol can also be the body’s response to understimulating, dull environments. Vacant spaces like sprawling parking lots, empty streets, and deserted plazas can signal discomfort and unease, triggering a stress response—essentially acting as cortisol factories. This demonstrates a direct correlation with thigmotaxis; sidewalks flanked by interesting buildings or parked cars can often make pedestrians feel safer, creating a sense of protection from surrounding threats like moving cars.
On the flip side, the upper brain is where logic and reasoning live, and where emotion, memory, and delight are processed. This portion of the brain pairs emotions with environments, giving us memories of places that matter and filtering out those that don’t. As placemakers, positive cognitive engagement is one of our most powerful tools. We ignore spaces like an alley with trash, loading docks, and delivery trucks, but add tables, music, and friends, and the same space can create positive associations and lasting memories.
UL: What are some of the main challenges to walkability in today’s urban environments?
Lewis: Decades of car-centric urban planning present the biggest challenge to walkable cities. In many areas, walking is underutilized due to inadequate infrastructure and uninviting surroundings. Prioritizing vehicles over pedestrians has led to communities fractured by sprawling suburbs, highways, and vast parking lots. In these environments, walking can often feel unsafe, inaccessible, or unappealing. In many communities, I’m told that “no one walks,” and yet, no one would drive if there were no roads. Even without sidewalks, we often observe well-worn paths where people still find a way.
UL: How can policy and zoning be used to create more walkable, people-centered cities?
Lewis: The codes that define our communities are largely driven—no pun intended—by the prioritization of cars rather than people. Most zoning codes have dozens of pages dedicated to the efficient movement and storage of cars, but have less than a handful of standards that speak to the safety and comfort of pedestrians. Often, the standards for parking are about the provision of a minimum number of spaces but are silent on their location. Location matters. Parking lots that separate the sidewalk from the storefront or building entrance are stress-inducing. So, too, are parking decks that are next to the public sidewalk along what should otherwise be a street prioritized for pedestrians.
To make our community ideals more closely resemble reality, we must prioritize thoughtful, engaging approaches to designing public space.
Additionally, there are some basic rules of the design when it comes to building along the edges of sidewalks. As humans, we find safety and enjoyment in walking along spaces that have transparency—so we have a sense of a building’s occupants—and texture to provide visually stimulating increments of detail that stimulate our journey. Colin Ellard, a neuroscientist specializing in the psychology of urban spaces, has demonstrated that pedestrians are more engaged and emotionally connected in environments with layered sensory experiences, such as greenery, diverse architecture, and active public spaces. His research shows that these elements not only keep pedestrians motivated but also enhance their emotional attachment to the space. By rethinking our approach to codes and zoning to prioritize comfort, beauty, and cognitive engagement, initiatives like this could be expanded and made permanent, becoming a regular part of urban life.
UL: How does walkability affect the function and connection of communities?
Lewis: Walking isn’t just a means of transportation; it’s a vital part of everyday life that supports physical health, emotional well-being, and connection. Walking 10 to 15 minutes each day not only helps relieve stress but also boosts creativity. All of these elements are critical components of our brain chemistry, controlling our movements, decisions, and moods. By investing in pedestrian-friendly design, cities are creating not just more accessible and connected communities but quite literally are also making residents happier and healthier. Swapping dull, car-centric environments for vibrant, connected community spaces also presents positive outcomes for economic vitality, sustainability, and socialization.
UL: How do you imagine the future of walkable communities?
Lewis: To make our community ideals more closely resemble reality, we must prioritize thoughtful, engaging approaches to designing public space. According to Charles Montgomery’s Happy Cities, when people are cognitively engaged, they’re five times more likely to help a stranger, seven times more likely to let someone borrow their phone, and four times more likely to walk someone to a destination—it makes us better people.
Walking is not just transportation; it is a vital activity that shapes human health, emotions, and social connections. By prioritizing pedestrian-friendly design, cities can transform dull, carcentric environments into vibrant spaces that inspire movement and foster community, and are more economically vital. Through the understanding of what gives us a sense of safety, joy, and delight through techniques inspired by the principles of cognitive engagement and thigmotaxis, we will have happier brains. And, with happier brains, we will walk a lot more.
