Libyan civic and urban centres are increasingly suffering from unwalkable places due to the lack of legislation for accessibility, multiplication of unregulated car traffic, and the absence of adequate urban and spatial planning. In the last few decades, there has been an increasing interest in the field of walkable public open space as a key driver of sustainable urban development and redistribution of land use, to ensure pedestrian and walkable routes between sites of living and workplaces, and to reduce dependence on automobiles. However, in most developing countries, including Libya, there is limited a comprehensive approach and framework to enable and facilitate walkable public open spaces in urban centres.
This research analyses factors and identifies barriers related to walkability in public open spaces in Tripoli (Libya) in two phases: exploring the consistency and validity of effective walkability factors related to the context, using surveys with 25 Libyan specialists, experts, and decision makers; and developing a mixed methodological approach to assess and evaluate current perceptions, attitudes, and aspects involved in determining what makes an accessible and walkable urban space in Tripoli. The empirical study included analysis of a questionnaire survey (using SPSS version 20.0) of 427 users and 108 professionals, and observation of spatial practices and attitudes in four different public spaces in the city.
Focus group discussions were used to validate the results, which showed that safety and security; lack of facilities, and physical barriers; institutional, legislative, management and financial barriers; social and cultural barriers; and transportation system barriers, with varying weights, hinder people's decisions to walk in public open spaces in Tripoli. A framework was developed to assess the significance and extent of these walkability problems that can be used as a basis for public open space making and management in developing countries' urban planning
