Children will live longer thanks to 'Mini Holland' cycle areas
Posted on in Cycles News , Outdoor News
Children living in the London Borough of Waltham Forest are predicted to see their life expectancy increase by an average of six weeks thanks to the award-winning Mini Holland scheme in the area.
Researchers at King's College London predict that the extended life-expectancy could apply to children in the north east London borough who were born in 2013, the year the £30 million Mini Holland scheme was implemented, reports the London Evening Standard.
The study was commissioned by Waltham Forest Council from the Environmental Research Group at King's and is entitled Air Quality: concentrations, exposure and attitudes in Waltham Forest.
The borough's 265,000 residents would benefit, gaining a total of 41,000 years of extra life if air quality continues to improve because of a fall in traffic in residential areas, the study said.
Further rises in life expectancy are expected when a second King's study looks at the rise in "active travel", such as walking and cycling. The environmental research group at King's said Mini Holland could reduce school-run emissions by seven per cent by 2020, when the programme is completed.
King's researcher David Dajnak said: "Waltham Forest's interventions such as the Mini Holland scheme and additional infrastructure aimed at reducing the dominance of traffic are leading the way for healthier, less-polluted cities."
Heidi Alexander, Sadiq Khan's deputy mayor for transport, said: "Waltham Forest is leading the way in creating healthier streets and we want more boroughs to follow their example."