Walking as an act of valuing environmental and built heritage and a contribution to advocating social and environmental justice

The legacy of car-centred planning has left fragmented and monofunctional urban areas, representing a sheer waste of valuable space for social and environmental development. Urban policies and approaches are now prioritising infrastructure that promotes more active mobility modes, acknowledging walking as a key to social and spatial equity and a right to the city. Walking is a practice that encourages experiencing and socialising in urban spaces, making cities more attractive, inviting and livable, and ultimately environmentally friendlier. This paper reports the findings of survey research aimed to understand walkers perception of the built environment in the city of Agualva-Cacém (Portugal). It aimed to incorporate research practices as a pedagogical tool and brought students of urban planning and basic education together. The students, in small mixed groups, walked, mapped and evaluated local characteristics with the help of four different tools (research diary, observation sheet, interview guidelines, and evaluation grid). A multicriteria analysis was used to assess the results and to advance insights on how walking can be a key for social justice. The results provide insights for increasing the attractiveness of urban settings for pedestrians, and thus an actionable way to promote social and environmental justice.