Which are the optimal cities for someone seeking to lead an active life? The measures used for such analyses will vary upon the person asking the question; however, attempts can be made to shift through the tens of thousands of global cities (such as the World Health Organisation city health profiles).
This attempt has been undertaken by a footwear brand called HOKA. HOKA did not attempt to look at every city, but these applied their criteria (as their ‘running index’) to forty of the world’s biggest cities, focusing on the best cities to run in. the results have been made available to Digital Journal.
The firm has looked into factors such as the number of green spaces, walk score, average temperature and air quality amongst others to reveal the top 10 cities for an active life. One of the key criteria was ‘walkability’. That is, how easy it is to navigate a city can determine how little obstacles a runner will avoid during their run? A tool was used to determine the walkability of the cities, based on the ease to reach different points of the city without the use of a car.
The top three cities for running are:
- Vienna, Austria – In first position with an overall score of 7.9 is Vienna. This city scores 100/100 for walkability and has very low traffic carbon dioxide emissions.
- Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain – In silver position in Santa Cruz de Tenerife with 82 percent of its land made of green spaces and an average temperature of 22°C. Spain has previously featured in the top ten in other similar surveys.
- Melbourne, Australia – Making it into the top three is Melbourne. This city has an average temperature of 17°C and a walkability score of 99/100.
- Rome, Italy – In position four, one of the most ancient cities on the globe, Rome. This is one of the best cities for runners with an average temperature of 17.5°C, an air quality score of 12/100 and a walkability score of 99/100. Give your body an extra push by finishing your running session going up and down the stairs of Piazza di Spagna.
- Stockholm, Sweden – Rounding off the top five is Stockholm. With significantly low traffic carbon dioxide emissions (2,377 gr per return trip) and a walkability score of 99/100.
In sixth place is Berlin, Germany; seventh is Lisbon, Portugal; eight is Sydney, Australia; ninth is Barcelona, Spain; and tenth is Copenhagen, Denmark.
Other points of interest are that London is the only UK city to appear in the index, narrowly missing out a place in the top ten, in 11th position. The U.S. is the country with the highest number of cities with twelve, with Denver placing highest at 12th position overall, followed by San Diego and New York in 15th and 16th positions respectively. The only other countries with double-entries are Spain, Australia and South Africa (with two each).
Running and outdoor exercise has become extremely popular over the last few years, with global Google searches for ‘running’ increasing 22 percent year-on-year, searches for ‘active holidays’ rising 50 percent and running holidays trending 22 percent more than the previous year.
