Exercise is healthy. Numerous studies confirm this. Not only for people, but also for the city. In the current issue of G+L, we look at why and how we need to bring movement into our cities, which projects motivate people to move and which new mobility concepts are available. Movement is an evolutionary conditioned […]
Exercise is healthy. Numerous studies confirm this. Not only for people, but also for the city. In the current issue of G+L, we look at why and how we need to bring movement into our cities, which projects motivate people to move and which new mobility concepts are available.
Movement is a basic evolutionary human need. But while our ancestors walked around 30 kilometers a day in search of food, today we Germans only walk between 500 and 1,500 meters a day. We have invented pedelecs, electric scooters and motorized skateboards, drive our children to the school gates in SUVs and fly from Munich to Berlin for a meeting. The paradox is that we are more mobile than ever and at the same time we are moving less and less.
According to scientific studies, primary school pupils spend nine hours of their day sitting, nine hours lying down, five hours standing and only one hour moving, of which a maximum of 15 to 30 minutes is intensive. ONLY SLIGHTLY MORE THAN 20 PERCENT OF GIRLS AND NEARLY 30 PERCENT OF BOYS ARE AT LEAST 60 MINUTES OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PER DAY, meeting the minimum requirements set by the World Health Organization (WHO). For adults, the recommended weekly exercise time is still 30 minutes a day. But hand on heart: who can do this regularly on an average working day, which is mainly spent sitting in front of a computer screen? The consequences of a lack of exercise range from increasingly limited motor skills and poor concentration to obesity and diabetes.
Design that promotes movement
But while we are in danger of becoming more and more sedentary, the majority of city dwellers are not only increasingly drawn to EMS studios, which promise to cover their weekly exercise requirements in just 20 minutes, but also to the great outdoors. The modern fitness trails, which are finding their way into more and more parks and are now known as callisthenics facilities or exercise trails, are being actively used. And that’s a good thing. On the one hand, cities are increasingly responding to WHO guidelines, which are now manifested in national recommendations for exercise and the promotion of physical activity. On the other hand, they are responding to the trend towards outdoor sports. They are working on making public spaces more conducive to physical activity. This means: linking open spaces more closely, removing infrastructural obstacles, making the streets more pedestrian and bicycle-friendly and equipping their parks with stimulating play and sports areas.
“Active Global City”
Mühlheim a. d. Ruhr and Stuttgart, for example, are developing master plans to promote exercise in urban areas. Hamburg is the only German city to have been awarded the title of “Active Global City” to date. According to Hamburg’s sports senator Andy Grote, an active approach to everyday life is essential to ensure that the quality of life increases as the city grows. And incidentally, the cities are also responding to two other current challenges. After all, those who engage in physical activity do not emit CO2. And: sport is known to unite nations – and therefore also promotes integration in public spaces.
G+L 11/2019 is all about exercise. You can purchase the magazine here.
