Citation: Qazimirsaeed, A.; Khosravi, H.; Rafieian, M.; Mirzahossein, H.; Forciniti, C. Walkability Policies in Developing Countries: What Do People Need and Prefer in Iran? Sustainability 2022, 14, 10808. https://doi.org/10.3390/ su141710808 Academic Editor: Rui Cunha Marques Received: 31 July 2022 Accepted: 26 August 2022 Published: 30 August 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). sustainability Article Walkability Policies in Developing Countries: What Do People Need and Prefer in Iran? Ali Qazimirsaeed 1 , Hanie Khosravi 2 , Mojtaba Rafieian 1 , Hamid Mirzahossein 3, * and Carmen Forciniti 4 1 Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 141171311, Iran 2 Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran 3391653755, Iran 3 Civil-Transportation Planning, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin 3414916818, Iran 4 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende, CS, Italy * Correspondence: mirzahossein@eng.ikiu.ac.ir Abstract: Examining the willingness to pay (WTP) in the implementation of walkability policies can indicate the needs and preferences of individuals. Consequently, better defined individual preferences lead to successful sustainable transportation plans. While there is an extensive literature discussing WTP in sustainable transportation, they mostly focus on developed countries, and this issue has not been adequately studied for developing countries, especially the Middle East. This study aims to determine the preferences of transportation users in developing countries and their willingness in paying to implement sustainable transportation policies. To this aim, 384 surveys were conducted in Karaj city, Iran, using the contingent valuation method (CVM). The WTP and its contextual criteria (household’s cost, demography, and economic class) and walkability criteria (safety, accessibility, network design, and social) were examined using PLS-SEM with 1000 resamples through the SEMinR package in the R programming language. The results show that 46% of participants were willing to pay extra taxes to implement the walkability policies. Furthermore, the structural model indicates that safety, social, spatial, and accessibility are the most important factors, respectively, and predict WTP in a positive direction. In contrast, gender and cost predict WTP in a negative direction. Keywords: willingness to pay (WTP); walkability policies; preferences of individuals; sustainable transportation; developing countries; Karaj city 1. Introduction Following rapid urbanization and the increase in the population of cities, motorized transportation and car dependency has increased sharply, especially in developing coun- tries. Environmental pollution is one of the most apparent consequences of the overuse of private vehicles. Still, this issue is not limited to the destructive effects of motorized transport in major cities worldwide. Other consequences include road fatalities, reduced physical activity, over-consumption of non-renewable energy, and high travel costs. The lack of suitable infrastructure for non-motorized transportation, especially in urban centers, directly affects the reduction of quality of life and the health of citizens [1]. Due to such a growing crisis, one of the goals of the sustainability approach is to develop resilient and healthy societies by providing a safe transportation system that is affordable and accessible for all groups, especially the disabled and marginal groups. The role of transport in sustainable development was first discussed at the Earth Summit in 1992, and its importance in developing countries was discussed at international conferences [1]. The impact of sustainable transportation on the health of citizens became even more critical after the coronavirus pandemic. Average road transport use halved in early 2020, and cycling and pedestrian use increased sharply [1]. According to the United Nations (UN) report [1], cycling and walking are among the most stable active modes. Therefore, planners, researchers, and policymakers are increasingly considering pedestrian-friendly design and Sustainability 2022, 14, 10808. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710808 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability