Context

Depending on the age group, up to two thirds of the Swiss population report physical activity below the minimum recommendations for maintaining health condition. The impact of inactivity on health and in particular on non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, certain forms of cancer) is now proven.

If it seems unlikely to get a sedentary population to go to a fitness center overnight, a more inclusive and nuanced approach has already proven itself. Numerous pilots have demonstrated that it is possible to encourage movement and exercise in urban environments. In this context, urban planning and the evolution of mobility towards a multimodal use (public transport, walking and cycling combined) can play a major role.

Thus, integration of public transport allows a coherent soft mobility scheme and increases the number of people that can be reached. In particular, studies have demonstrated the role of public transport in facilitating multi-purpose trip sequences and movement (e.g., going to work, then shopping, then going to a leisure center, and finally returning home).

Challenge

Based on these observations, the following question emerged :

  • How can we encourage people to move more by integrating physical activity into their daily routine in an urban setting ?

 

Theme Leader
T-L (Transports publics lausannois)

Test phase results

The idea of “Multimodal city walks” aims to link the different parks of the city of Lausanne in order to encourage physical activity. The development of this idea was commissioned to the LASIG laboratory (EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne)), which was able to develop a model including different environmental characteristics such as slope, noise/air pollution, and intensity of exposure to vegetation. The model also gives indications on the amount of energy (calories) required by a city walk in order to adapt to all profiles and age groups of the population.

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