Nowadays, the number of people walking regularly is significantly decreasing despite the necessity of it. This problem is due to the lack of time and energy of people and unsuitable city infrastructure, which can be solved in two ways.
One main reason why so many people spend most of their time sedentary today is excess work time. As working people have a workload and they return from workplaces late and exhausted, they do not prefer active walking to vehicle comfort. Even for short distances, we can see people traveling by transport. Another cause is that there is a lack of pedestrian-friendly roads. Many cities and towns are designed more for vehicles than pedestrians and safety measures are not established effectively. As a result, citizens cannot find the courage to walk confidently in any part of the day.
There are two potential options to increase individuals’ preference for walking. Firstly, there should be walking marathons, festivals, and awareness campaigns in order to promote the impact of walking on human health. In this way, people will be informed about the dangers of an inactive lifestyle and be stimulated to start moving. But initially, the work schedules must be flexible to diminish the pressure on workers, because, no one would have a chance to take time for himself in heavy work stress. Secondly, the infrastructure ought to be updated to have more green spaces and parks to encourage people to walk rather than get stuck in a car. Additionally, steps to create a safer environment must be followed, such as installing safety cameras and increasing the number of sidewalks to let people walk confidently.
In conclusion, the reasons behind people’s reluctance to walk regularly are the lack of time and effort to take for themselves and ineffective planning of roads, which can be solved if governments and employer companies take adequate actions.