Spatial and policy analysis of livability in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, USA

A livable city ensures safety, health, inclusivity, sustainability, housing, mobility, and opportunities for all. The Global Observatory of Healthy and Sustainable Cities (GOHSC) launched the 1000 Cities Challenge to assess urban health and sustainability globally. This study uses the GOHSC's spatial and policy indicators to evaluate livability in St. Louis, Missouri. Using a mixed-methods approach, we analyzed the spatial distribution of built environment and transport features alongside planning and sustainability policies. Spatial indicators were derived from open data. Policy documents were coded for their governance level, alignment with evidence from healthy cities, and inclusion of measurable targets. Most residents (91.7%) lived in neighborhoods with optimal street intersection density (100 intersections/km²). However, only 2.8% lived in areas with optimal population density (5,700 people/km²). Just 26.3% lived near public transit, and 44.5% had access to large public open spaces below the GOHSC city averages (44.6% and 66%). While there was good coverage of policies, policy quality was low (31%), with most lacking measurable targets. The policy and spatial indicators enabled a comprehensive evaluation of livability. Future research should synthesize local and regional policies, supplement livability indicators with measures of environmental (in)justice within cities and utilize streetscape micro-scale data to deepen livability analysis.