I often hear the complaints of those who cannot find parking for their cars in the city. and it is forced to idle for several minutes; when I then find myself asking these people how far they live from the final destination, it turns out that most of them are no further away than that. of 3 km. A healthy human being on average walks at a speed of 4 km/h; this it means that most of us cover a distance of 4 km without effort in 1 hour on foot. Of course, then there are those people who are unable to move on foot because it's too busy. they have a certain age or for physical problems; but how many are there?
According to the definitive data of the latest ISTAT census in Italy approximately 20% of the resident population is made up of elderly people, they are approximately 3 million disabled people equal to approximately 5% of the Italian population, and is the population of children under 15 in Italy is approximately 15% (the age from which minicars can be driven). Without getting bogged down on how many elderly people fall into the disabled category and vice versa, how many disabled people are under 15 years of age and vice versa, let's say that adding the percentages we are at around 25% of the Italian population unable to walk to which we add a 15% which is the total of children under 5 years of age, to obtain a percentage of 40%. So in Italy there is a resident population equal to approximately 60% of the total that can freely move on foot.
The vast majority of the Italian population could therefore get around on foot without difficulty! Yet most of them spend hours walking in shopping centers! It is estimated that 50% of the time we spend in a shopping center is spent walking inside it, not in the shops but only inside. So let's say that on average we spend 2 hours in the shopping center of which only one hour walking, we have walked at least 4 km, burned at least 200 calories (at least but it could be a little more if we count the effort to push the trolley/carry the bags/climb the stairs); a light dinner consisting of 130 g of chicken breast, a slice of bread and salad is equal to approximately 200 calories.
If we spend hours walking in shopping centers because it is there is so Is it difficult to do it in the city? In the long run we will save money by not paying for car parking, fuel, we will stay in shape improving our health and we will save the money associated with the various treatments to solve the problems caused by a sedentary lifestyle, we will reduce the stress associated looking for parking. There are many benefits of walking, it's up to us to make the right choice!
There are many cases and reasons that force us to use the car but the most sometimes we could really do without it.