Would You Live in a City That Forced You to Exercise?

Would you live in a city that forced you to exercise? Not through policy and legislation but through clever planning and innovative architecture.

About one in four Americans are physically inactive, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Numerous studies have shown that this kind of sedentary lifestyle can increase our risk of all mortality, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, colon cancer, depression…the list goes on.

But for many of us, physical inactivity is not a conscious choice. It stems from sitting all day at a desk job, driving to work because there are no suitable walking or cycling routes, and having little time for recreational exercise alongside all our other commitments. But what if the infrastructure around you gave you the opportunity to move your body without taking extra time out of your day?

“An active city would offer you loads of ways to get from A to B,” Anna Boldina, an architectural researcher and designer who studies active cities at the University of Cambridge in the U.K, told Newsweek.

“One day you slide down a pole from your balcony, walk across the front garden on stepping stones, balance on a log over the river and finally climb a ladder to your office balcony, instead of using a lift. Next day, you feel more relaxed and meditative and just walk up and down a timber curve around flowers and then barefoot over a sand and cobblestone reflexology path…You’ d never get bored of walking, it is always different and you choose how it will be today.”

Not only would these active cities be full of variety, but they would also be good for our health. “Active city would help people to stay overall physically active, which is by itself good for heart, digestion, mood, cognition and so on,” Boldina said.

“The various elements [of an active city] also have their own specific benefits: for example, stepping down is good for bone density, preventing osteoporosis and fractures. Balancing on curbs and logs […prevents] falls at an older age. And stepping stones improve balanced co-activation of a variety of upper and lower body muscles as well as mindfulness and concentration on ‘here and now,’ known as a stress relief.”

This all sounds great for future city design and planning, but how can we incorporate these features into existing city infrastructure?

“The best way to transform a place into an active city is through small interventions here and there: an extra stepping stone shortcut across the grass or extra log across the rain garden,” Boldina said. “Sometimes it is not about adding, it is about removing: mostly balustrades.

“There are so many potential changes of level [10 to 20 inches] that could be a perfect step down for improved bone density and step up for a leg stretch, but they are blocked by balustrades, even though they are away from any entrances and aren’t dangerous.”

It is also important that these routes are accessible to people of all ages and abilities. “We are specifically designing those routes for non-sporty, sedentary people, with complicated lives and no habit of exercising every day to make a step into physical activity very easy for them,” Boldina said. “Some of the challenges can be enjoyed even by wheelchair users. Off course all the routes would have an accessible alternative.”

Of course, if there are always less challenging alternatives available, how can we encourage those who are able to take the more physically active routes? “One of our studies was aimed specifically at encouragement,” Boldina said. The study found that the most effective means of encouragement was providing a shortcut. For example, the option of taking a long twisting ramp or a short step down. “Other factors included playfulness, crossing water, using natural materials resembling hiking and adding handrails for confidence,” added Boldina.

Boldina’s group is currently working with architects in Cambridge to create such active landscapes, with similar structures like the Simcoe WaveDeck in Toronto already popping up around the world.