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Transport policies during the last half century have changed the model of transport, giving priority to motorised private transportation and nearly removing pedestrians from land use in urban areas. This fact generates serious negative adverse effects in the overall population, such as noise and environment pollution, traffic injuries, social isolation and lack of physical activity. It contributes to the burden of disease with increased mortality, obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers. In addition, the impact of transport has an unequal distribution on society. Socially disadvantaged people experience the least benefits from motorisation and the most disbenefit from the model of motorised private transportation.1 A greater proportion do not own a car; have less access to services, healthcare, shops and leisure; and most deprived children have a higher risk of being killed as a pedestrian.2
There is a large amount of evidence that walking regularly provides many health benefits. It has been reported that it reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, overweight and obesity, type 2 diabetes, colon …
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Competing interests None.
Provenance and Peer review Commissioned; not externally peer reviewed.