Improving the Walkability of High Streets: A Participatory Approach Using Biosensing and Scenario Co-Creation

In the 21st century, there has been a concerted effort to undo the automobile-centric urban planning of the 20th century, which has resulted in degraded public spaces that deter citizen permanence. However, the perpetuation of quantitative-based methodologies, along with low public participation, has led to underused public spaces. To create more appealing spaces, the methods need to feature more public involvement. This article addresses this gap by implementing the Participatory Mobile Biosensing methodology. Participants were asked to walk along two high streets in Lisbon using biosensors and, in a later workshop, to interpret their biodata and co-create scenarios to improve their walking experience. The participants were able to identify the intangible and physical factors that affected their walk, as well as devise scenarios to address them. When the participants formulated their scenarios, they were also able to demonstrate several ideals that influenced their vision for the streets. The subsequent discussion focused on the relevance of this methodology to high streets and how participatory methods could further the study of walkability by incorporating subjective experiences in the creation of public spaces.