Yule Heibel's Library tagged walking →  View Popular, Search in Google

I left a comment on this:
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Not every society reacts to pedestrian congestion the same way. A recent comparison of Germans and Indians revealed that although people from both cultures walk "in a similar manner" when alone, their behavior varies greatly in the presence of others. As one might expect given the densities of their respective countries, Indians need less personal space than Germans do, according to the researchers. As a result, when Germans encountered traffic during a walking experiment, they decreased speed more rapidly than Indians did. "Surprisingly the more unordered behaviour of the Indians is more effective than the ordered behaviour of the Germans," the study concludes [PDF].
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My comment:
Re. the Germans slowing down when in a crowd vs the Indians not lessening their pace as much: I'm really curious to know whether Moussaid's research has anything to say on who arrives at their destination most efficiently / quickly? Is it more efficient to act counter-intuitively to your body "needs" and just to continue plowing through a crowd, body contact and all, even if your acquired cultural norms demand more distance? Since the study says the "unordered" behavior is more effective, it suggests it does get the job of moving from A to B done more efficiently, yes? This is fascinating, I think.
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cities atlantic_cities eric_jaffe walking pedestrians socialtheory

Meshes nicely with the research that shows sitting to be harmful to your health (whether in offices or in cars...)
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Cars have so altered the way cities are planned that "it's arguable that zoning is now health averse," said Larry Frank, a professor at the University of B.C.'s school of community and regional planning. One of his studies found that for every hour spent in a car, there's a six-per-cent increase in the likelihood that you'll be obese.

Old cities are pedestrianfriendly because they had to be. But the rise of mega-cities makes that impossible, unless you consider public transit to be an extension of walking. Transit riders almost invariably walk to and from their bus or train to work or home. In fact, they are nearly 3.5 times more likely than drivers to meet minimum physical activity guidelines, according to another of Frank's studies.
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vancouver walkability cities cars health walking