Urban pedestrians are speeding up 03-05-2007 Pedestrians all over the world are moving faster than a decade ago, according
to a study into the pace at which people walk in 32 cities across the globe.
Walking speeds have increased by an average of 10 percent in the past decade.
People in the greatest hurry live in Singapore, they walk at an average speed of
6.2 kilometres per hour. Following in their footsteps are residents of
Copenhagen in Denmark (6.1 km/h) and Madrid in Spain (6.0 km/h). Surprisingly,
some of the world's biggest cities did not even make the top five. New York's
residents came in at eight, Londoners were placed 12th on the list and Tokyo's
urbanites were ranked 19th.
Researchers in each city found a busy street with a wide pavement that was
flat, free from obstacles and sufficiently uncrowded to allow people to walk at
their maximum speed. They timed how long it took men and women to walk along an
18-meter stretch of pavement.
Professor Richard Wiseman, who headed the research, says walking speeds
provide a reliable measure of the pace of life in a city: "This simple
measurement provides a significant insight into the physical and social health
of a city. The pace of life in our major cities is now much quicker than before.
This increase in speed will affect more people than ever, because for the first
time in history the majority of the world's population is now living in urban
centre."
Here is the list of the cities ranked from (1) where people walk the fastest
to (32) where people walk the slowest:
Source: CNN back |
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