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ThinkingInsights to walk away with - Living Streets UK Walking Summit 2026
In March, Senior Accessibility and Inclusive Design Consultant Luke Evens visited Liverpool for the Living Streets UK Walking Summit 2026 and came away inspired by planners, politicians, consultants, campaigners and community advocates. He shares his insights from the event.
We are all trying to answer the same question: with the case for walking and wheeling never stronger, how do we make sure that our future streets are designed with everyone in mind? Here's what stuck with me.
The numbers
81% of all journeys under a mile are already walked or wheeled (National Travel Survey 2024), but around half of us say we want to walk and wheel more than we currently do (Walking Cycling Index 2025).
The evidence shows that a majority of people are already choosing active travel, but we need to go further, to make sure that as many people as possible have the option to do so as well.
If we want liveable cities, reduced congestion, healthier communities and streets that work for diverse communities and future generations, we have to start by designing for the people who use them. And that means active travel and street design that integrates and caters for diverse needs, behaviours, and experiences.
The case for better streets is broad
One of the things I appreciated about the day was how multidimensional the considerations were for better walking and wheeling infrastructure: traffic congestion, air quality, public health, equity, economic regeneration and transport emissions to name a few.
Safety was a key topic too. Transport Minister Lillian Greenwood made a compelling point about women and girls safety. Nine in ten respondents in a recent survey reported feeling unsafe walking (YouGov, 2026). Minister Greenwood made the point that perceptions of safety aren't just mild inconveniences; they cause people to change their routes, curtail their journeys, and altogether make different choices, all because our streets don't feel safe.
She mentioned halving violence against women and girls is a cross-government priority, and I believe inclusive street design has a direct role to play here. At Mima, we’ve been designing human-centred environments for a long time, and we will continue to make sure that features like sightlines, lighting, activation and passive surveillance are considered throughout the whole user journey, to make our streets feel safer and more welcoming for everyone.
And of course, there's equity. Living Streets has been around for nearly a hundred years, and their core challenge hasn't changed: different people need fundamentally different things from their streets. Children feel particularly unsafe when next to fast-moving traffic.
Only 20% of disabled people walk and wheel with ease (Transport for All), due to inaccessibility and street clutter. That’s the majority experience for a significant portion of the population, and designing out these barriers should be our baseline, not our aspiration.
Technology has a role to play, but only if we ask the right questions first
We heard from a really rich panel on emerging trends and technologies, discussing user behaviours and legislation around e-bikes, e-scooters and autonomous vehicles.
What struck me most though wasn't the technology itself, but the framework questions that need to come first. Janice Jaison from Mott MacDonald made the point well: define the problem, then find the technology that fits - not the other way around. In other words, the opportunities: who benefits? And the risks: who could be negatively impacted?
Dr Amit Patel, DEI consultant and Living Streets Trustee, grounded the conversation in his lived experience. He noted that technology does have the potential to improve access, but not when infrastructure hasn’t been designed well. For example when tactile paving hasn’t been implemented properly, or when parked e-bikes cause obstructions on the footway because there are no designated parking options.
When these systems fail, the burden falls heaviest on the people who already face the most barriers. Everyone’s journey should be safe, unimpeded and comfortable.
At its best, technology can genuinely extend access. Voi talked about their partnerships that help people with autism plan journeys, and navigation tools they are integrating for people with visual impairments. Waymo is co-creating its service with an accessibility network ensuring diverse users are specifically considered in their safety methodologies, for example building in auditory and visual information systems for pedestrians. The operators mentioned they would share footfall patterns and ridership data to also help local authorities better design their streets as well, and actually reflect how people move.
So how do we actually get there?
Two things came through clearly when the conversation turned to delivery.
The first is relevant guidance and standards. The Conference showed real momentum here: a refresh to the Manual for Streets is due soon, Active Travel England will be releasing new guidance to make streets safer for women and girls later this year, and the Technical Oversight and Advisory Group (TOAG) has been established to support Active Travel England’s advice and products considers a wide range of users. These are the levers that can shift the baseline across the entire sector: not just the shiny mega developments, but every residential street, public space and active route too.
The second is behavioural science. The Atkins presentation made the good point that while a well-designed street is necessary, it is not always sufficient. To promote walking and wheeling at scale, we need a blend of well-designed places and behavioural change. The EAST framework- Easy, Attractive, Social and Timely, offers a practical way to think about what strategies fit which barriers. But the prerequisite is again asking the right questions first: what stops people from walking and wheeling? How do those barriers differ between groups? And how do we design with diverse user requirements in mind.
Go beyond what people tell you, the panelists said. Understand both the conscious and unconscious drivers of behaviour. Listen to users to surface how it feels to walk and wheel in an area. I found the Lived Experience Walks though Liverpool a great exercise for doing this.
Listening to users resonates with me deeply. Not just for active travel, but for inclusive design more broadly. We at Mima are strong believers in the value of working with, not for people and the benefits of integrating lived experience to achieve better design outcomes. Our co-production methods alongside lived experience user groups are a testament to that.
So when it comes to people-friendly streets, we have the evidence, and the latest guidance is coming. What we need now is a collective effort to put users first. From the earliest stages of design, through to the kerbside strategies and the data-sharing agreements, we can make streets work for everyone.
That's the work. And days like this remind me why it matters.
Written by:
Luke Evens
Senior Accessibility and Inclusive Design Consultant
Luke is a dynamic and imaginative NRAC-accredited inclusive design specialist who champions usable, welcoming spaces designed for the diverse communities we live amongst. He has advised on global projects across the aviation, education, rail, public realm and mixed-use sectors. Luke is IAAP CPACC certified, sits on the Network Rail BEAP, and serves as a Civic Trust Awards Universal Design Assessor.
