The effect of Vehicle traffic on walkability at the old city of Sulaimaniyah

Abstract

Most of the cities at the old urban fabric heritage area featured with specific characteristics. Sulaymaniyah city has such an old and heritage area. The fabric features similar specifications to those of the most cities of the Islamic world, in terms of its streets, alleys and lanes. Since roads and alleys where forming a nested organic shape served the urban movement in full conformity which meets the complete walkability requirements through alleys and streets. The change and development of the transport systems and then the penetration of these modern systems in old alleys which are not designed and not suitable for such systems have made distraction in general traffic and the walkability in particular. This research tries to focus on this point by studying the factors that affect walkability at the old city of Sulaymaniyah and looks at the impact of vehicular traffic on this possibility by examining a specific zone of the old city and comparing this with global criteria and standards used in walkability at such similar areas. To reach the goal of the impact of vehicular traffic on walkability at the traditional area of Sulaymaniyah, the research concluded that because of the nature of the alleys and streets of this area with specific privacy, the walkability is adversely affected.