The island that won’t walk

Cyprus’ doesn’t really care for walking.

It was different a century ago. The first petrol car (a Peugeot Type 69 Bebe, should you be interested) arrived on the island in 1907, courtesy of one Dr Ioannis Pierides of Limassol. But for decades, automobiles remained an oddity rather than the norm, and walking was the primary mode of transport.

How that’s changed!

Cyprus now ranks 12th in the world for cars per capita, and boasts nearly 800 vehicles per 1,000 residents – a clear testament to how deeply car culture has embedded itself into our daily lives. But where does that leave walking?

Well, we pay so little attention to our own two legs that there are, it transpires, no official statistics on walking in Cyprus. Though there is one small piece of independent research that suggests only 0.1 per cent of our population walks or cycles for more than 30 minutes a day.

If that’s correct, then Cyprus is quite literally being outpaced by every other European nation…

Search for data on walking in any other country, and you’ll find oodles of info. In Italy, the average person takes 5,300 steps per day – about four kilometres. In Germany, 5,200 daily steps. In France, the daily average of 5,100 steps will take you 3.7 kilometres – from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre.

Greeks, on the other hand, average just 4,300 steps daily: just over three kilometres; about the distance from the Acropolis to the National Garden. And given that Cyprus most often mirrors Greece in its statistics, we have food for thought!

If we estimate that Cypriots also take about 4,000 steps a day, we’re looking at a brief stroll from Ledra to Kennedy, from the Paphos Archaeological Park to the Tombs of the Kings, or from the Limassol Marina to the Limassol Municipal Gardens. A journey of about 2.5 kilometres. But let’s be honest, how many of us actually would do that on foot?

In Turkey, nearly half the population prefers to walk from point A to point B. Half of Spaniards also favour walking for short distances; nearly two-thirds of Brits do the same. In these countries, walking is integrated into daily life.  

“I feel that, in Cyprus, walking is not just an afterthought – it’s often completely overlooked,” says 36-year-old Katerina Ioannou. “We’re so used to jumping in the car for every little thing that we don’t even consider walking. It’s just what we’ve always done.”

Katerina, who lives in Strovolos, admits she’ll drive to the salon, the supermarket, and the pharmacy at least twice a week – even though all are within a kilometre of her home.  

“I’ve seen people hop in their cars to get from the bakery to the bank across the road. We’re conditioned to drive, even when we don’t need to!”

A recent Nicosia municipality report reveals that public transport is responsible for just three per cent of journeys; cycling for less than two per cent. Another study suggests over 90 per cent of Cypriot residents prefer cars over other types of transport.

“Everything is spread out – especially in Limassol,” says George Kleanthis. “It’s not a village you can simply stroll round in 30 minutes! And anyway, who would walk in the summer heat?”

George raises a good point. There’s little correlation between wealth and walking (Norway and the Netherlands both rank in the top five for annual net earnings in Europe, yet almost half the population walks short journeys. Still less between country size and steps per day (Russians walk 6,000 paces per day, while another huge nation, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, averages just 4,000.) But climate, on the other hand, does seem to matter.

We already know that season affects our walking speed: studies have shown we walk more slowly in warm weather; more quickly in cold. But the five countries with the lowest steps per day are all places we would consider hot: Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Greece, the United Arab Emirates.

In Cyprus, where temperatures for three months of the year regularly hit 40 degrees, walking is not a natural fit. Or not now we all have cars, anyway.

“When my dad visited from the UK,” says Nicosia resident Miranda Lambrou, “he was quite happy to walk down the road to AlphaMega, to potter off to the shops in Latsia. My husband and I were shocked by how little he needed to drive. But then my dad is retired – time doesn’t mean the same to him.”

This pace of working life may well be a factor. So are age and gender: we walk less as we age, and men tend to walk more than women. Our jobs play a big part too: wait staff and nurses top the list, with roughly three times as many steps per day as the average office worker.

And in Cyprus, with its strong services sector, many of us are indeed glued to our chairs all day long.

“I walk to my car in the morning, walk into the office, and sit at a screen for eight hours,” says Larnaca-based IT worker Katy Sophocleous. “I’m exhausted by the evening – to be honest, walking my dog is the only thing that gets me moving!”

Architect John Savva, meanwhile, cites urban planning. “When I lived in London, I’d walk everywhere: even if you use the Underground or the buses, you’re walking to the station or stop. But we don’t have that public transport network here, nor do we have ancient sprawling metropolises with loads of cobbled streets or pedestrian zones.

“Over 60 per cent of us live in urban areas, which have grown quickly and recently,” he concludes. “In Cyprus, our cities are designed for cars – not people!”