Walking a lot was the default norm for humans across the world before cars, etc, made it impossible to do what we need to do with just walking. Urban planners used to incorporate fitness into their designs and that seems to mostly be a thing of the past.
You can blame our couch potato physiques on modern life to a large degree. We don't have to quietly accept this. We can decide to redesign the world such that walking to run errands is much more the default norm again and then fitness can be incorporated into daily activities of living instead of being an extra burden on top of them.
Urban planning has long been closely intertwined with public health, though disease prevention gets the lion's share of the press.
Before life got in the way, I wanted to be an urban planner. So I've heard this a lot over the years.
Here are a few excerpts from a piece by the CDC:
Urban planning and public health have been intertwined for most of their histories.
During the middle of the 20th century, the disciplines drifted apart, to a certain extent because of their success in limiting health and safety risks caused by inappropriate mixing of land uses.
The disciplines recently have begun to reintegrate. During the last 20 years, shared concerns have included transportation planning to improve air quality, encourage physical activity, prevent injuries, and promote wellness.
You can blame our couch potato physiques on modern life to a large degree. We don't have to quietly accept this. We can decide to redesign the world such that walking to run errands is much more the default norm again and then fitness can be incorporated into daily activities of living instead of being an extra burden on top of them.