One of these studied more than fifty thousand Danes between the ages of fifty and sixty-five. The participants were followed for twenty years; those who didn’t cycle to work when the study began but started doing so in the first five years of the study had a 26 per cent lower risk of developing heart disease, compared to the passive commuters. Which goes to show that it’s never too late to take up healthy habits. Another Danish study found that the mortality rate is 30 per cent lower for people who commute by bike, compared to passive commuters.
In addition, cycling has been shown to have a preventative effect on non-insulin-dependent diabetes, osteoporosis and depression. The British Medical Association found that the increased life expectancy gained from exercise via cycling outweighs the added risk incurred from accidents by a factor of twenty. Of course, accidents happen, but for every cyclist casualty in Copenhagen, cyclists have biked 4.4 million kilometres – the equivalent of 110 times around the world. Cycling keeps us more active and healthier, which in turn keeps us happier – in both the short and the long run.
In addition to adding years to our lives and reducing our waistlines, bikes also reduce congestion, air pollution and noise and improve the bottom line of our cities financially. The municipality of Copenhagen has examined the effects of travelling by bike and car. Looking at the total cost of air pollution, accidents, congestion, noise and wear and tear on infrastructure when travelling by each method, bikes save the city 0.45 kroner (about 5 pence) for every kilometre travelled, compared to travelling by car. With over 400 million kilometres cycled every year in the capital, it adds up.
Nor is it a coincidence that, among the cities competing for the title of most liveable city in the world in rankings by Monocle and Mercer, most of them are also among the most bikeable cities. As well as Copenhagen, cities such as Berlin, Vienna and Stockholm fall into this category. Two thirds of all citizens in Copenhagen believe that bikes have a positive or very positive impact on the city’s atmosphere.
However, for most Danes, none of this matters. The primary reason for us to cycle is not to make ourselves healthier, our cities less congested, our economy stronger or our planet more sustainable – we do it simply because it is easy and convenient.
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OUTDOING THE DANES
‘A city is successful not when it’s rich but when its people are happy. Creating bikeability and walkability shows respect for human dignity. We’re telling people, “You are important – not because you’re rich, but because you are human.” If people are treated as special, as sacred, even, they behave that way. We need to walk just as birds need to fly. Creating public spaces is one way to lead us to a society that is not only more equal but also much happier.’
The words are those of Guillermo Pe?alosa, who I met at a conference in Kuala Lumpur. He is the former Commissioner of Parks, Sport and Recreation for the City of Bogotá, Colombia. I recognized the passionate speech about walkability from something I heard a few years earlier from a man with the same surname.
‘Are you by any chance related to Enrique Pe?alosa?’ I asked. Guillermo stretched out his arms and smiled: ‘He is my brother.’ Enrique is the mayor of Bogotá, and the brothers have a passion for walking, cycling and public spaces that puts even people from Copenhagen to shame.
The biggest obstacles to happiness are feeling inferior or excluded. A good city does not let its citizens feel this way. The same day I met Gil, I had tried to walk to a botanical garden two hundred metres from the conference venue, but gave up, as there were no pavements that could take me there.
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‘A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transport. It is where the rich walk and where they use bikes. We should create cities where rich and poor meet as equals: in parks, on the pavements, on public transport.’
His point is that great public spaces – like beautiful parks, bike paths and walkable streets – function as social blenders; as equalizers in our cities and societies. We usually meet under the same conditions of social hierarchy. At work, you are the boss or the employee. At the restaurant, you are being served or serving others.
One of the initiatives to have come out of Bogotá is Ciclovía, in which the city closes off more than a hundred kilometres of streets to car traffic on Sundays. Instead, the streets are converted to walkable, bikeable and playable areas; more than a million people make use of this. This initiative has spread to more cities throughout the world and is one small step towards us getting more exercise into our daily lives.
WALK MORE
Here are ten ways to get more exercise without hitting the gym and, at the same time, meet more people in your community:
1. Say no to escalators.
2. Walk over and talk to a colleague instead of calling or emailing.
3. Find a walk buddy. A walking partner can be a strong incentive to walk daily, especially when the sky is grey or you find another excuse not to.
4. Take the scenic route. There are apps (try Kamino and Field Trip) that will tell you not the fastest route but the prettiest.
5. Make Wednesdays Walking Wednesdays: a day when your family, friends or just you go for an after-dinner stroll.
6. Go on a coin-flip safari. This is a great way to get to see new parts of your neighbourhood. We tend to walk the same routes when we go for a stroll so, next time, take a coin with you and, at every junction, let the coin decide where you go. Getting to know your neighbourhood better will make you feel even more at home there, and you might discover new places where you love to go.
7. Bring a podcast. If you are by yourself, you can also listen to one of the many great free ones. My favourites are RadioLab and This American Life.
8. Walk, don’t wait. If you arrive early for an appointment – at the doctor’s, for example – take a walk around the block rather than simply sitting in the waiting room.
9. Meet your friends for a walk, not a coffee – or just have the coffee while you’re walking.
10. Join a walking group or a hiking club. There might already be a walking group in your neighbourhood – if not, ask your neighbours if they are interested in forming one.
HAPPINESS TIP:
MOVE MORE EACH DAY
Build more movement into your daily routine: take the stairs, have a meeting while going for a walk and park as far away from the supermarket entrance as possible.
The obvious tip here would be to start biking to work, or school, or anywhere. However, your city may not be ready for cycles, so getting your local city council to start investing in infrastructure for people, not cars, could be the first step on a long road. However, there are also some short-term solutions.
The reason why Danes exercise more than everybody in the EU is that they don’t see it as exercise. They see it as transportation. A small dose of fitness becomes part of your normal life instead of something you do in the gym.
This runs against the fact that we have built overly convenient societies – we sit still at work, we stand still on the escalator, we walk through doors that open automatically, we take the lift, we drive to the gym to train on the Stairmaster for an hour. So, I think the key lesson from the Danish way of living when it comes to health is to build movement into your daily routine.
The Happiness Research Institute is located by the lakes of central Copenhagen. On our side, there is no traffic and thus no noise, which allows me to walk by the lakes when I need to make a long phone call, and even to convert some meetings into walk’n’talks – for instance, my employees and I have monthly conversations instead of yearly reviews, and these are done while we walk.
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Moreover, when I ask our barista for a cup of coffee, I then walk five floors up to the top of the building and back down again, and the coffee is ready. It doesn’t take any more time and, as I drink four cups a day, it means I climb the stairs of a hundred-storey building every week. Similarly, every two hours in front of the computer ‘costs’ twenty-five push-ups.
Do I get embarrassed when colleagues catch me doing this?
Totally.
Do I believe it is worth the embarrassment?
I do.
MOOD BOOSTERS