Active Mobility for SC

Modern lifestyles that neglect physical activity pose significant risk to our physical well-being. One of the ways smart cities can promote better quality of life for their citizens is to push for active mobility as part of their sustainable transport system. Active mobility that is defined as the use of walking and cycling as part of everyday mobility options are beneficial in improving our health as the effect of increased physical activity inherent in walking and cycling. Active mobility reduces the risk of various non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, cancer, dementia, depression, and reduced life-expectancy. However, active mobility may also increase the risk of exposure to air pollution, noise pollution and traffic collisions. Still, studies suggest that the health benefit of active mobility will outweigh the negative impact of it. 

Consequently, active mobility should not only be about improving the design and safety of walking and cycling infrastructure but also reducing the reliance on automobiles as citizens’ transport mode. Therefore, the disciplines that put importance in active mobility such as public health, transport planning and urban planning should cooperate and collaborate to combine their expertise and resources to develop enormous potential for fostering active mobility which would inevitably result in numerous societal benefits.

Reference

Koszowski, C., Gerike, R., Hubrich, S., Götschi, T., Pohle, M., & Wittwer, R. (2019). Active mobility: bringing together transport planning, urban planning, and public health. In Towards User-Centric Transport in Europe (pp. 149-171). Springer, Cham.