Walkability in self-organized deregulated settlements: Potential, contradictions, empirical evidence in two Mediterranean cities

Résumé En

Self-organized peripheral settlements result from informal deregulated urban expansion, where inhabitants self-build neighborhoods to meet their needs outside of top-down urban planning prescriptions. As the self-organized system is generated bottom-up and piecemeal, it could reflect the human scale, with a high presence of widespread retail activities and services for pedestrians, both favoring walkability. However, due to the scarce provision of public space, developers’ land greed, and unconnected street networks, the conflict between cars and pedestrians increases at the expense of walkability. Therefore, the paper focuses on the description of self-organized settlements in terms of walkability, the key factor for their livability, social interaction, and inhabitants’ satisfaction. The research counts on two case studies from Rome (Italy) and Jerusalem (Palestine) to confront theory with empirical evidence. It analyzes street networks to assess permeability, integration, and connectivity. It also considers streets and public spaces as experienced by pedestrians and cars. Finally, it categorizes interfaces between built-up plots and public space, calculating their accessibility within the pedestrian shed, and identifying their human usage. Consequently, the paper proposes new understandings of the self-organized deregulated settlements and identifies the walkability potentials and contradictions for better low-cost development. Preliminary results show the unexpected potential of walkability in deregulated settlements of Rome and Jerusalem and the diverse outcomes of autonomous responses of urban dwellers in shaping their interfaces with the public realm. Differences also arise when popular self-built urbanization is replaced by plot-by-plot market-driven deregulated urbanization.