The 'proper science' of walking in urban environments

In his lab at UCL, Professor Nick Tyler has been researching walking and how people from all kinds of backgrounds and levels of mobility interact with the environment and infrastructure. We should make cities for everyone, he will tell delegates at the Cycling + Walking Innovation event. ‘This means employing the full range of cognitive, physical and perceptual variety so that everyone can create the city they want, every time they experience it. Neuroscience, for example, can help with the making of cities by supplying the ‘proper science’ of how people move around and use their environments, exploring what works and doesn’t, and showing that there may be incompatible needs and desires from diverse sections of society. Professor Tyler has recently been awarded a £9m grant by EPSRC as part of the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC) to create a new facility called the People-Environment-Activity Research Laboratory (PEARL) and to develop his work.