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Downtown Salt Lake City streets with design elements such as ground-floor windows, outdoor dining, courtyards and distinct building features are drawing more pedestrians, according to a new study.

In the first analysis of its kind in a midsize U.S. city, University of Utah researchers studied 179 street segments downtown, tying the number of sidewalk passers-by in half-hour periods with a wide array of urban-design features along each block.

The U. study, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Urban Design, found a direct and measurable link between higher pedestrian counts and key design qualities, most notably, the density of buildings and the level and mix of activity on their ground floors.

More subtle aspects of design — such as the size of exterior windows on a building's first floor, the spaces created by setbacks from the curb and easily recognizable exterior features on facades — were also tied to increased walkability, the study found.

One of the co-authors said the results offer hard numbers to support the claim that city zoning rules meant to encourage better urban design actually work in fostering more walking.

"We want people to be physically active, get them out of their cars and give them a greater sense of place and community," said Reid Ewing, U. professor of city and metropolitan planning. Urban planners, he said, "can now point to a study that shows good design actually creates street life, whereas prior to that it had been an assumption based on intuition."

A prior analysis of 588 blocks in New York City, conducted by Ewing and others, reached similar conclusions on the link between walking and streetscape features. But researchers were unsure those findings would apply elsewhere.

"New York City is unique," he said. "It's probably the most walkable city in the country."

Salt Lake City urban designer Molly Robinson said that proving how vital urban design is to walkability here makes it "more of a universal truth."

"Street life is the basis for what it means to live in a city," Robinson said. "Part of fostering strong pedestrian activity is about getting people to wonder, wander and linger."

The connection between walking and better design is borne out anecdotally by some downtown merchants.

Gunther Radinger and his wife, Carol, own The Oxford Shop Shoe Store and Gallery along Salt Lake City's 100 South near the Salt Palace, a stretch that has seen several design upgrades in recent years.

"We have noticed a definite increase in foot traffic," he said.

The U. researchers studied downtown Salt Lake City blocks within the Utah Transit Authority's free-fare zone in fall 2012.

Ewing's co-authors were Hassan Ameli, an intern architect with Prescott Muir Architects in Salt Lake City; Andrea Garfinkel-Castro, a doctoral student in city and metropolitan planning at the U.; and Shima Hamidi, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Adjusting for nondesign- related factors likely to affect pedestrian flows, the researchers counted passers-by and compared their numbers to 20 design features considered important by urban planners but previously unproven to have a positive impact on street activity.

They found that differences in foot traffic along well- designed and poorly designed block segments in downtown Salt Lake City were sometimes huge.

Downtown's Main Street between North Temple and 100 South near City Creek Center — which debuted in March 2012 with many of the design features covered in the study ­— had some of the downtown area's highest walking counts, at about 1,500 pedestrians per 30- minute period.

The blander stretch of 200 West behind the Salt Palace near 100 South, in contrast, had downtown's lowest pedestrian volumes, at 18 passers- by per half-hour.

Of five major urban-design themes U. researchers analyzed, one called "transparency" — referring to how well pedestrians can see what lies beyond the edge of a street and the lines of sight between indoors and outside— emerged as especially important to higher rates of walking.

The New York City study, Ewing noted, also highlighted transparency as a key factor in pedestrian traffic.

Salt Lake City's zoning ordinances already require 60 percent see-through glass at street level for buildings in the central business district. The visibility that creates, said Robinson, adds to pedestrian engagement with their surroundings.

Along with transparency, downtown streets with the fewest gaps between buildings, richness and visual consistency in design, and a sense of enclosed space between buildings and pedestrians tended to lure more walkers, the study found.

The city's draft Downtown Master Plan includes guidelines for other design elements highlighted in the U. study as well. As currently written, it encourages frequent building entrances along a given block, large display windows and lots of street trees, as well as active uses for ground-floor spaces such as retail outlets and eateries.

"These are basic components of downtown's overall image," Robinson said. "Image is what makes downtown memorable and keeps people returning again and again."

Twitter: @TonySemerad