Transactions on Transport Sciences | Vol. 3/2023 1 Transactions on Transport Sciences Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal Vol. 3/2023 DOI: 10.5507/tots.2023.010 journal homepage: www.tots.upol.cz Pedestrianization in Historic Districts in terms of Traffic, Urban Development, and Economic Perspective of Sustainable City SIAVASH TAJADDINI a , ABBAS MAHMOUDABADI b , MOHAMMADREZA KHALILZADEH c * , OTAKAR ČERBA c , JAN MARTOLOS d a. M.Sc. in Transportation Planning, Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran b. PhD in Industrial Engineering, Department of Industrial Engineering, MehrAstan University, Gilan,Iran c. Department of Geomatics, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of West Bohemia, Pilsen 30100, Czech Republic d. EDIP s.r.o., Pilsen 30100, Czech Republic ABSTRACT: Nowadays, new urban development strategies emphasize on pedestrian construction where pedestrian zones must meet the standard requirements in order to improve citizen mobility. Urban economies, social justice, and sustainable transportation may be impacted by pe- destrianization. Certainly, pedestrianization and walkability can sig- nifcantly reduce trafc congestion in historic and downtown districts. Concerning historical urban attitudes and relevant potentials, this paper proposes reconstructions to build better pedestrian areas in historic places where private car trafc and public transport lanes are also con- sidered in pathway construction. As a case study, a historic area in the Iranian city of Kerman has been studied due to its unique cultural and climatic conditions. Consequently, all guidelines and regulations for changes to potential streets of historical districts into pedestrian zones have been carefully reviewed followed by defning scenarios of walkability and non-walkability (turning historic passageways into new roadways) of streets as well as improving trafc conditions. In addition to investigating variables including costs, trafc enhancement, and urban development priorities, the analysis has been done by performing the analytical hi- erarchy process (AHP). Te results indicated that non-walkability-based scenarios (passage and roadway widening) could merely reduce delays while incurring signifcant expenses and the highest destruction of his- toric districts. Nevertheless, the analysis carried out using three criteria showed that walkability and the development of public transportation could provide the most reliable solutions (the highest point) to secure sustainable transportation. KEYWORDS: Pedestrianization; Walkability; Urban Development; Sus- tainable Transportation; Sustainable City 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Tere is no doubt that transportation has become one of the most critical factors for social and economic development in cities, where the increase in trafc and travel by automobiles has created a number of social, economic, and environmen- tal issues (Poyani & Stead, 2015). Terefore, transportation experts assert that pedestrianization and walkability can signifcantly reduce trafc in historic and downtown districts (Rezaei, 2022). With motor vehicles dominating human life- styles and the rapid development of urban characteristics, pollution, trafc, and accidents have negative efects on the urban atmosphere (Carmon et al., 2003). While transporta- tion is one of the sectors that exacerbates global warming, one of the most infuential tasks to come to grips with this issue is to raise a mode shift from the use of private cars to more sustainable trafc modes, such as walking, cycling, enhancing public transport, or combinations of these (Ris- ser and Sucha, 2020). Moreover, people have neglected their surroundings and become deprived of a sensual and spiritual understanding of their environment, eventually alienating themselves from their cities through the constant use of cars. Because walking and pedestrians have traditionally been important in transport studies, the human scale was incorporated into all urban planning. But they have been sometimes neglected in current urban planning that is usu- * Corresponding author: rezakh@kgm.zcu.cz ally devoted to cars and related concerns. Troughout recent decades, Kerman, a historical city located in the desert area of Iran, has seen a decline in pedestrian-specifc urban spaces, and the increasing prominence of vehicles and mechanical lifestyles has left people disconnected from their historical heritage on an emotional and spiritual level (Safzadeh, 2016). Te major principle of city pedestrianization is separating vehicles from pedestrians in trafc in which such separa- tions are necessary to prevent collisions. In fact, a pedestrian zone consists of streets that are prohibited from being used by vehicles. Te streets are allowed to be used by special vehicles (for example, ambulances) during specifc hours, and technical services and delivery cars may be permitted to use them (Iranmanesh, 2008). Support for pedestrian mo- bility is expressed through the pedestrian zone. Pedestrian zones are designed to facilitate pedestrian movement safely. Sucha et al. (2017) explained pedestrian-driver interactions and decision strategies in urban areas in the Czech Republic through mixed methods research that revealed the pedestri- ans evaluated districts with a more balanced pedestrian/car ratio as safer. It was also suggested to make pedestrian cross- ings shorter, for instance, by pavement extensions as it was shown the shorter the crossing, the safer pedestrians feel. All pedestrians share the same zone in the pedestrian area. Te construction solution in this zone emphasizes that the commercial and residential functions of this zone prevail over the trafc functions (EDIP s.r.o., 2008). Engineering studies on pedestrians and vehicles should be carried out in order to design walkways in a safe and efcient manner. Te walkways