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"As a real-estate agent, I always consult a property's Walkscore, because price and position are the two main determining factors for clients looking for a home." When reading American papers or magazines, you often come across this word: Walkscore. The above comment was made by Eva Otto – a property agent with Seattle-based Infiniti Real Estate & Development – during an interview for The Atlantic. It is just one of the many recent examples of its kind where sector professionals talk about the new Google Maps mash-up, Walkscore. This app created in the United States provides users with a place's livability rating based on the number of amenities ‒ supermarkets, schools, shops, museums ‒ offered locally, and sets its real-estate value as a consequence.
Through a score ranging from 0 to 100, the app establishes the urban development quality level of an area, how necessary it is to have access to a private car to reach amenities that are considered essential, and therefore also how walkable the entire area is. This data is not insignificant given that the future of our cities is increasingly greener and sustainable in energy terms. This new trend is emerging alongside the very contemporary electricity revolution that we are already experiencing, and is interesting not only for real-estate operators but also for anyone looking for a home or curious to know how their own property ranks.
Walkscore uses Google Maps ‒ specifically the Google local search API ‒ to find stores, restaurants, amenities and parks just a stroll away from any address entered in the search field. The app is currently operative in the United States, Canada and Britain, but is also being developed for Europe. Following a search ‒ carried out using an algorithm ‒ a score between 0 and 100 is calculated: 100 stands as the highest possible result and is theoretically the ideal place to live ‒ a place with no pollution, perfectly connected and safe.
Addresses with amenities located within 500 meters receive the highest scores: in fact, the greater the distance, the lower the property value and ranking, since it is more demanding ‒ financially and time-wise ‒ for its occupants to reach the places necessary for day-to-day tasks and activities, whether these are for work or leisure.
Then there's another variable that is still being broken in: a score is also given depending on distance from an electric vehicle charging station. An ever larger portion of the world population is indeed opting for electric vehicles for getting about in urban areas and, as a consequence, today's fuel stations will soon be converted. It will presumably no longer be necessary to go to a specific place to charge a vehicle, as this will be possible in any spot. So is there any point in generating a Walkscore variable for this value? We're certainly still living in a transition period, but in the long term, specific charging points will no longer be necessary, and therefore the Walkscore importance given to certain services will probably be obsolete. Nevertheless, the developers have already thought of this: the app is constantly evolving, they have stated, and it follows society's changes as they emerge.
Not only is the data provided by Walkscore useful in the real-estate realm, but it is also very interesting to anyone operating in the urban design and smart cities fields. Many professionals are in fact exploring artificial intelligence and the 'data' world in order to build intelligent, adaptable environments: a true revolution in the way urban spaces are conceived, created and lived is in progress. It is a revolution involving just as much the physical aspect of towns and cities (parks, streets and houses) as the way urban environments and their inhabitants interact with each other. Suffice to think of the most innovative real-estate developments that are attentive to accessibility and inclusion, are well-connected and safe, and are at one with nature and their local area.
In this sense, the connection between the Walkscore app and LEED Neighborhood certification by the Green Building Council is a very close one. If the first of the two is able to map out the livability of a neighborhood and therefore to establish the resulting market value of a local property, then the latter certifies projects on an urban scale, with careful attention to a project in terms of design and technological innovation. So far LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification has been a very efficient tool regarding buildings, but for some time now it has also been having noticeable impact in terms of towns, cities and communities ‒ particularly in key sectors such as environmental and human health. The hope is that the pairing of these approaches can help governments, local authorities and designers keep priority high on issues such as sustainability, resilience, green infrastructure and accessibility.
>>> Discover the Spark Food District in Santa Giulia, Milan ‒ the first LEED Neighborhood in Italy
