there’s been a study showing people in some cities are walking 10% faster than they were 10 years ago (another story here and main researcher here).
they watched people on the street & timed how long it took them to walk 60 feet. those in singapore walked the fastest at 10.55 seconds. nyc was 12 seconds (8th fastest). london 12.17 (12th fastest).
they surveyed 32 countries but not australia. wellington nz came in at 15 with 12.62 seconds. i was definitely annoyed by the slowness of people in wellington. i think they probably annoyed me just as much as people here do with their slow walking. maybe ill have to do some research of my own.
here’s the full list: (starting with fastest)
1) Singapore (Singapore); 10.55:
2) Copenhagen (Denmark); 10.82:
3) Madrid (Spain); 10.89:
4) Guangzhou (China): 10.94:
5) Dublin (Ireland); 11.03:
6) Curitiba (Brazil); 11.13:
7) Berlin (Germany); 11.16:
New York (United States of America); 12.00:
9) Utrecht (Netherlands); 12.04:
10) Vienna (Austria); 12.06:
11) Warsaw (Poland); 12.07:
12) London (United Kingdom); 12.17:
13) Zagreb (Croatia); 12.20:
14) Prague (Czech Republic); 12.35:
15) Wellington (New Zealand); 12.62:
16) Paris (France); 12.65:
17) Stockholm (Sweden); 12.75:
18) Ljubljana (Slovenia); 12.76:
19) Tokyo (Japan); 12.83:
20) Ottawa (Canada); 13.72:
21) Harare (Zimbabwe); 13.92:
22) Sofia (Bulgaria); 13.96:
23) Taipei (Taiwan): 14.00:
24) Cairo (Egypt); 14.18:
25) Sana’a (Yemen); 14.29:
26) Bucharest (Romania); 14.36:
27) Dubai (United Arab Emirates); 14.64:
28) Damascus (Syria); 14.94:
29) Amman (Jordan); 15.95:
30) Bern (Switzerland); 17.37:
31) Manama (Bahrain); 17.69:
32) Blantyre (Malawi); 31.60.
there’s no mention as to if they confirmed these people lived there or were tourists. tourists would have thrown off the numbers.