The quality of urban space in terms of walkability can be assessed taking many
parameters into account, such as the presence of sidewalks, their density and continuity,
appropriate technical parameters as well as the presence of greenery, squares,
parks, which create the environment for pedestrian traffic. The lack of travel barriers,
the possibility to shorten the route, travel safety and security, the presence
of street furniture, shops and services are also significant. This article concerns
some of the above described factors and presents selected research results on the use
of space in city centers of several Polish cities – Kraków, Gdańsk, Szczecin, Warsaw,
Gdynia, Wrocław and Poznań as well as the results of an analysis on the friendliness
of this space for pedestrian traffic. The first phase of this study was to determine
the share of public space within the analyzed city center areas, and then define areas
used as roads, infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, squares, green areas, parks
and public courtyards. The balance of the used space was created for each researched
area, and the space dedicated to pedestrian traffic was additionally analyzed
in terms of the presence of obstacles as well as sidewalk location. The analysis results
prove that that greatest amount of the public space is located in the city center
of Poznań, and the smallest in Kraków. Warsaw is characterized by the greatest
and Szczecin by the smallest percentage of the pedestrian infrastructure. Szczecin
dominates in terms of the share of roads in the downtown area, Wrocław in terms
of squares and Gdańsk – public courtyards.