Jeff Speck’s Walkable City (2012) and its companion volume Walkable City Rules (2018) provide a compelling and accessible argument for designing cities around the needs of pedestrians rather than cars. Together, they form a theoretical and practical guide for creating healthier, more sustainable, and economically resilient urban environments through walkability. In Walkable City, Speck outlines the “General Theory of Walkability”, asserting that people will choose to walk only if the walking experience is useful, safe, comfortable, and interesting. He demonstrates how car-centric development patterns have eroded urban life and offers persuasive evidence—economic, environmental, and social—that walkable cities are better cities. Drawing on urban design, transport planning, and public health research, he positions walkability as not only a design preference but a necessity for the 21st century. The follow-up, Walkable City Rules, translates the theory into 101 actionable steps for urban designers, planners, and policymakers. Organised as a rulebook, each guideline addresses a specific challenge, from road diet implementation to zoning reform and bike-lane design. The tone is pragmatic and encouraging, designed to empower professionals at every level to initiate positive change, regardless of scale. Speck’s mantra—“if you plan for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic; if you plan for people and places, you get people and places”—runs throughout. A key strength of both books is Speck’s ability to blend rigour with readability. His writing is engaging and often humorous, which makes the books appealing beyond professional audiences. Yet beneath the accessible tone lies a deep critique of car dependency, outdated traffic engineering, and land-use segregation. He challenges the status quo by proposing an alternative urban paradigm—one in which streets are for people, not just vehicles. Taken together, these works offer a comprehensive introduction to contemporary urbanism with walkability as a guiding principle. They have become foundational reading in planning and design circles, influencing municipal policies across North America and beyond. For those aiming to understand or implement pedestrian-friendly environments, Speck provides both the ‘why’ and the ‘how’—a rare and invaluable pairing.
Speck, J. (2012) Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
