Undergraduate Research: An Archive - 2022 Program

THESIS TITLE
Towards a Walkable
Periphery: Improving
the Walkability of
Australian Suburbia
ADVISER
Mario Gandelsonas,
Class of 1913 Lecturer
in Architecture,
Professor of School of
Architecture
Kajsa Souter ’22
ARCHITECTURE
Certificate in Environmental Studies
Modernist urban planning unreservedly
prioritizes the private car and has created
an urban fabric that is environmentally
unsustainable and reduces the social and
economic opportunities of the city. My thesis
criticized the historical emphasis on automobile
accessibility and proposed a transition to
walkability that would enhance urban vitality.
The challenge for policymakers and professionals
is how to encourage, design and fund walkable
cities that are environmentally, economically
and socially sustainable. The spatial patterns
of Australian cities are amenable to supporting
more walkable urbanism. I drew on the distinct
history of Australian cities to identify the
benefits and design qualities that encourage
walkable urbanism, then outlined a pathway
to improving the walkability of Australian
suburbs. The qualities of older inner-city suburbs
that promote walkability must be expanded
to the urban peripheries, which begins with
determining the specific design features that
make these spaces desirable. I applied design
features that encourage walkability to two case
studies, Keperra and Grovely stations, which are
situated in two low-density residential suburbs
of Brisbane. Given their access to the city, these
stations have the potential to act as transit nodes
and commercial centers for the surrounding
neighborhood and reduce automobile
dependency in these two car-orientated suburbs.
URBAN PLANNING AND
SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
32