SINGAPORE: In a ranking of walkable cities across Asia, The Little Red Dot placed fifth on the list. This is useful information these days, as one of the best ways for tourists to get to know a new city is on foot, noted Preply, the online language learning marketplace that conducted the study.
“We worked out the overall walking distance of an average one day-tourist itinerary in each city, looking at a breakfast location, a top-rated attraction, a lunch spot, another top-rated attraction, and finally a dinner location.
We then analyzed the data to discover the time it takes, the number of steps, and the calories burned,” the company said.
The study shows that in Singapore, a tourist can spend a little over an hour or 66 minutes walking 2.9 miles (4.7 km). This walk is equivalent to 5,800 steps and burns 290 calories.
“Known for its brilliant urban planning, Singapore offers an enjoyable walking experience with its network of covered walkways, pedestrian bridges, and lush green spaces,” the study noted.
Taking pole position is Dubai, where the walking route is 1.9 miles (3.06 kilometres). It takes 44 minutes to walk this route, which consumes 190 calories.
Preply says that tourists may ply a route in the city through the Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood onto Dubai Museum, where they can also avail of breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“This efficiency in connecting key attractions and locations highlights the city’s commitment to pedestrian accessibility,” the company added, also noting that because Dubai is predominantly flat, it’s easy for walkers to get around.
Popular spots in the city include Downtown Dubai and Dubai Marina. However, in the summer months of June through September, staying cool can be a huge challenge amid 40°C temperatures, and visitors need to be careful about being up and about when the heat is extreme.
In second and third places, respectively, are Phnom Penh (3.2 km, 45 minutes, 4,000 steps and 200 calories) in Cambodia and Ho Chi Minh (3.4 km, 52 minutes, 4,200 steps and 210 calories) in Vietnam, and taking fourth place is Yerevan in Armenia (3.7 km, 52 minutes, 4,300 steps and 200 calories).
On the other end of the scale, here are the five least walkable cities in Asia: Taipei (15.6 km, 224 minutes, 19,400 steps and 970 calories), Tashkent (13.7 km, 188 minutes, 17,000 steps and 850 calories), Jakarta (13.7 km, 191 minutes, 17,000 steps and 850 calories), Bangalore (11.9 km, 172 minutes, 14,800 steps and 740 calories), and Osaka (10.5 km, 146 minutes, 13,000 steps and 650 calories). /TISG
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