Which City Is In The Greatest Hurry?
Last Edited: Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 2:30 AM EDT
Created: Tuesday, 01 May 2007, 8:30 PM EDT
05/02/2007 --
The pace of life in cities around the world is literally getting
faster, a study has shown.
Psychologists have measured the speed at which people walk and
discovered a 10% increase in the last decade.
Ten years ago, California State University's Professor Robert
Levine showed that walking speed provides a reliable measure of the
pace of life in a city.
Since then, the pace has speeded up, the study revealed.
British psychologists Professor Richard Wiseman, who led the
research, said: "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 are now living in urban centres."
Surprisingly, London is relatively slow compared with some other
cities, the results show.
On the list of 32 international cities compiled by Prof Wiseman it
ranked 12th.
People were in the greatest hurry in Singapore. Following in their
footsteps were the residents of Copenhagen and Madrid, the two
fastest paced European cities.
A closer look at the UK showed that the fastest walkers were in
London, followed by Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff.
Researchers timed how long it took 35 men and women to walk along a
60ft stretch of pavement.
Men were generally 25% quicker on their feet than women.
The 10 fastest city walking times:
1) Singapore (Singapore); 10.55
2) Copenhagen (Denmark); 10.82
3) Madrid (Spain); 10.89
4) Guangzhou (China): 10.94
5) Dublin (Ireland); 11.03
6) Curitiba (Brazil); 11.13
7) Berlin (Germany); 11.16
New York (US); 12.00
9) Utrecht (Netherlands); 12.04
10) Vienna (Austria); 12.06
UK: London 12.17; Belfast 12.98; Edinburgh 13.29; Cardiff
16.81.
