By Stephen Burton | Featuring Dr.Hyesun Jeong
We often treat the design of our cities as a purely structural challenge. We widen sidewalks, implement road diets, and construct sleek new transit hubs, assuming that if we build the infrastructure, the people will automatically follow.
But a city is more than its concrete footprint. It is a living, breathing social system where physical design directly drives human behaviour. When we strip out the cultural and commercial layers, even the most beautifully designed spaces can end up empty, underutilised, or worse, perceived as unsafe.
In this episode of The Placemakers, I spoke with Hyesun Jeong, Assistant Professor of Urban Design at the University of Cincinnati and author of Creating Sustainable Cities Through Pedestrian Urbanism. Hyesun shares her global observations and data-driven insights into how we can activate our public realms, rescue dying high streets, and build long-term urban resilience.
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We discuss how to shift from car-reliant design to human-scale urban ecosystems.
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Hyesun’s research is deeply informed by her experience living in diverse global cities, including Seoul, Paris, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Chicago, and Dallas. This international perspective highlighted a striking paradox: two spaces can be equally well-designed, yet one will burst with life while the other remains desolate.
In Seoul and Paris, subway stations function as social condensers. They are deeply integrated with underground shopping, commercial amenities, and convention centres, transforming transit hubs into vibrant community meeting places.
In contrast, many transit stations in car-centric American cities are viewed as dangerous hotspots to be avoided or passed through as quickly as possible. The difference is not just aesthetics; it is the urban form and the cultural perception surrounding it. In extreme car cultures, walking is often stigmatised as an activity reserved solely for low-income demographics, forcing social life into isolated strip malls and big-box retail centres.
To move beyond mere observation, Hyesun relies on robust data, blending GIS mapping, census demographics, and cell phone-based foot traffic data. Her findings offer concrete evidence for what legendary urbanist Jane Jacobs called eyes on the street.
One of the most remarkable insights from her research involves the tangible economic synergy of public art. When comparing blocks with identical commercial amenities, those containing public murals generated three times more foot traffic than blocks without them.
This consistent data shows that cultural placemaking acts as a direct economic driver. It creates visual complexity that engages the human eye, slows down pedestrians, and naturally encourages them to patronise neighbouring local businesses.
Blocks containing murals tend to have three times more foot traffic than the blocks without murals. There is a synergy between these cultural public arts and commercial amenities that drives local economies.
The decline of traditional high streets and the rise of empty storefronts is a global crisis accelerated by online commerce and the aftermath of pandemic lockdowns. However, Hyesun points out that fine-grained, community-based neighbourhood streets have proven remarkably resilient.
The secret lies in adaptive reuse, but with a protective twist. In Seoul’s historic northern district, centuries-old traditional Korean houses have been systematically transformed into modern cafes, art galleries, and creative entrepreneurial spaces.
Crucially, the city actively manages this evolution to prevent destructive gentrification. By setting strict limits on rent increases and banning corporate franchises or luxury developments directly adjacent to these projects, the city ensures the local community maintains authentic ownership. Independent commerce is preserved, building the long-term emotional connection necessary for a precinct to thrive over time.
For true pedestrian urbanism to succeed, we must broaden our definition of sustainability. It cannot simply be a metric achieved via technical building certifications or smart digital infrastructure.
True urban resilience requires a culture of sustainability. This means designing physical environments with an optimal mix of old and new buildings, dense tree canopies, adequate lighting, and comfortable seating, all woven into a 15-minute city framework where daily necessities are within walking distance.
Without cultural elements, historic identity, and active programming, even spaces crafted by legendary designers will fail. Hyesun points to Chicago’s historic parks designed by Frederick Olmsted as a prime example: beautifully executed green spaces that often sit empty and avoided because they lack the cultural activation required to make them a routine part of daily life. Designers and city planners must stop viewing streets as mere transport corridors and start managing them as complex, interconnected human ecosystems.
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