Why city blocks work
Conventional wisdom says that smaller city blocks are better for pedestrians. Research on urban form has traditionally suggested that smaller city blocks are better for foot traffic, and prominent urbanists have advocated them as key promoters of pedestrian access. Urban planner Leon Krier pointed to the enhanced diversity and complexity of activity generated by smaller city blocks, while the late activist Jane Jacobs noted increased interactions and encounters among pedestrians on smaller grids. But the relationship between block size and walkability appears to be more complex and variable than previously thought. In some cases, researchers now say, larger city blocks may actually be better for pedestrians and communities. Andres Sevtsuk, assistant professor of urban planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and director of the City Form Lab, and co-researchers Raul Kalvo and Onur Ekmekci recently reached this conclusion in research published in the journal Urban Morphology. They analyzed...