TAIPEI, Taiwan

- Walk score: 98

Thirty years ago, walking on a Taipei street was a risky exercise - especially if you were a child. Train stations featured A0 posters filled with passport sized photos of missing children who were abducted while walking on the street. The smog generated by cars, trucks, two-stroke motorbikes and scooters filled peoples' lungs. Footpaths, where they existed, were ‘owned’ by the shopkeepers which meant a level change or obstacle to negotiate with every front door - often pushing people into the fast-moving traffic of the street.

Today with its world class public transport, high quality footpaths and extensive network of protected cycling infrastructure Taipei is one of the World's most walkable cities.

Get the masses moving

One of the big things that turned the streets of Taipei around was the construction of its metro system. Constuction commenced on the Taipei Metro 1977 and the first line was opened in 1985. Today the Taipei MRT is one of the most extensive metro systems in the world. It is reliable, clean, efficient and effective at moving millions of people around Taipei every day. It is also one of the most highly rated systems by its people for customer satisfaction. Taipei Metro regularly hosts international delegates from other metro operators to learn how they have created such a well-loved system.

As well as the Metro, Taipei has an extensive bus network with many routes using centre running bus priority lanes. This relatively low-cost road space allocation measure has made buses more reliable and efficient and has improved general traffic flow on adjacent lanes. The bus is a convenient option in Taipei with most routes featuring frequencies of 15 minutes or less and real time information screens with bus arrival times at all bus stops.

Getting people onto public transport has freed up space on Taipei's streets for life to happen again.

Life has always happened on Taipei's streets

The streets of Taipei have always been an extension of it citizens' living rooms. Ground floor apartments often double as shop fronts where the space between family life and public life merge. The space between a front door and the passing traffic is what we might think of as a footpath but to a local this is the shop's or families front yard. Until recently navigating these spaces on foot has meant walking through people's shops or living spaces and often stepping up or down as the level changes with each building frontage. On days of religious significance you can often see people burning ritual paper money on the street outside their shop or family home.

When electric lights were introduced on the streets of Taipei people's lifestyles changed. Where people once slept and woke with the sun, the city is now known for its night markets. Careful time of day management of streets help make Taipei's night time economy thrive.

There are lots of streets that have markets on them at different times of the day. When markets are on, these streets are only open to people walking, cycling or riding scooters/mopeds and the speed limit does not change from 30km/h.

This time-of-day management both on the carriageway and on the ground floor of buildings is a very effective use of space and enables life on the street throughout the day and year. In the morning a landlord might lease the space oustide their building on a market street to a shop selling fresh vegetables while that same space might be leased to a different shop selling cooked dinner in the evening. The shop space itself is often leased on a short-term basis (about 3 weeks at a time) to shop that brings its goods to different market stores around the city: a concept that we might call a 'pop-up store' in Australia.

Creating space for walking

It was very recent that walking has been given the attention that it needed in Taipei. Walking improvements on local streets have been as simple as lowering the speed limit to 30, painting on some zebra crossings and using green paint on the pavement to delineate a footpath and narrow traffic lanes. The recent elections in Taipei have given local politicians a platform to put their names to such low cost and effective improvements to the walking environment of local streets.

On larger roads footpaths have been widened. The level changes as footpaths cross different building frontages have now (almost) all been ramped or leveled out. At siganised intersections the pedestrian phase is always part of the cycle (no need to press a button to ask permission to cross) and green time is maximised. Pedestrian crossings have countdown timers as well as animated green walking persons to indicate the speed at which you need to walk before the light changes to red.

Changing mindsets on cycling

Taiwan is one of the world's largest manufacturer and exporter of bicycles. During the aspirational period of rapid economic development from the 1970s to 2000s the Taiwanese people increasingly saw riding a bicycle as a poor person's pursuit. Bicycles were the mode for the less well-off market sellers and farmers.

The well to do people of Taipei increasingly aspired to drive a car or ride a motorised scooter as they became richer - and mode share changed as a result. As the rest of the world began to experience a cycling renascence, the bicycle manufacturers of Taiwan increasingly sold their bikes to foreign markets.

By the mid 2000s the bicycle manufacturers and Government saw an opportunity to show their local market that the rest of the world saw cycling as an aspirational activity for the well off. Western tourists were encouraged to come to Taiwan for a cycling tour. A national cycling route was established around the island and old railway lines were converted to rail trails. Almost every small city on the island established their own cycling paths for tourists. Police stations offered bicycle tourists a place to rest, use the bathroom and have a cup of tea. 7eleven convenience stores offered a service to courier bags to the next town so tourists did not have to carry them while riding. Riverside bike paths were established in Taipei.

Cycling was once again seen as a normal activity worthy for someone of any means to pursue. The bicycle industry set up public bike share schemes. In Taipei this was called Ubike and was initially quite limited but was soon rapidly expanded. Eventually road space was reallocated to cycling including protected bicycle lanes on busier roads.

Today with its world class public transport, high quality footpaths and extensive network of protected cycling infrastructure Taipei is one of the World's most walkable cities.