What's the world's most energetic city?

Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty

A new study of the walking pace in 32 cities around the world has found that Singapore is the "fastest" city, with people taking 10.55 seconds on average to walk 60 feet. Copenhagen followed at 10.82 seconds, while Madrid came in third at 10.89 seconds. Surprisingly, New Yorkers only came in eighth with an average speed of 12 seconds across 60 feet, and London pedestrians didn't even make the top ten.

People all over the world have been walking an average of around ten percent faster than a decade ago, when the pace of city walkers was last measured, the study found. Does this mean that people are fitter and healthier on average? Definitely not, according to Professor Richard Wiseman of the University of Hartfordshire, which conducted the study along with the British Council. Wiseman explains:

At one level, walking quickly is good, but if it's a way of life - if you're doing it simply to get from A to B as quickly as possible - then it goes with a whole load of other behaviours which are not quite so good for you ... not eating properly, exercising or seeing friends and family. It can lead to all kinds of things, especially heart attacks."

Given that heart disease follows closely behind cancer as the leading cause of death in Singapore, is by far the leading cause of death in Denmark, and is a close second again in Spain, it may be time for walkers in those countries to start slowing down and smelling the roses.