Wellness & Fitness

Road to health: Study calls for more cycling, walking in cities

cycle

Cities could promote people overall health if they encouraged a shift from use of private cars to cycling and walking. PHOTO | FILE

City designs and transport planning that promotes walking and cycling can improve people’s health, says a new report published in the UK medical journal, the Lancet.

The series on urban design, transport and health by the University of Melbourne (Australia) and the University of California, (US), says that cities would promote people overall health if they encouraged a shift from use of private cars to cycling and walking and promoted designs where distances to shops and facilities such as public transport are within walking distance.

Comprehensive solution

Paying such considerations will ensure a reduction on health issues such as non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular problems and diabetes, encourage physical activity and reduce air pollution from transport emissions.

Series author Professor Billie Giles-Corti, University of Melbourne, Australia said; “With the world’s population estimated to reach 10 billion people by 2050, and three quarters of this population living in cities, city planning must be part of a comprehensive solution to tackling adverse health outcomes.

“City planning was key to cutting infectious disease outbreaks in the 19th century through improved sanitation, housing and separating residential and industrial areas. Today, there is a real opportunity for city planning to reduce non-communicable diseases and road trauma and to promote health and wellbeing more broadly,” he said.

Physical activities

Nairobi bicycle sharing scheme by Dr Tonny Omwansa could be the city’s long awaited move towards making it a more habitable place that also promotes physical activity and overall personal health.

The University of Nairobi C4DLab director has been leading a team at the Chiromo campus through what could be Kenya’s first bicycle sharing programme.

If successful, the programme will take the model of personal public transport where bikes are stored in a closely spaced network of stations where users can check the availability of a bicycle from a docking station, use it for a short ride, and return it to any other station close to their destination.

“The effect of interventions that encourage cycling and walking was particularly evident in highly motorised cities such as Melbourne, London and Boston, and underscores the importance of transport policies, pricing and regulation that encourage active transport via cycling, walking and public transport while discouraging private car use,” said Series author Professor Mark Stevenson.

He added that these changes also need to be matched by improved pedestrian and cycling infrastructure to protect cyclists and pedestrians.

The study shows that these changes at city level could lead to real health gains.

The research carried out in Melbourne, London, Boston, Sao Paulo, Copenhagen and Delhi recorded an estimated reduction of 19 per cent in the burden of cardiovascular disease and 14 per cent in the burden of type 2 diabetes in Melbourne.

Intervention

In London it reduced the cardiovascular disease burden by 13 per cent and seven per cent in type 2 diabetes while in Boston, there was 15 per cent and 11 per cent reduction, respectively.

The model suggested that key intervention that will encourage walking, cycling and public transport and reduce use of private car includes cities reducing the availability and increasing the cost of parking, having attractive and convenient public transport and infrastructure that supports safe walking and cycling.

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