Walkability = economic boost. Time to get walking, isn' it?

If walkability positively impacts knowledge-based businesses, and we continue to drag our feet in doing what's necessary to make downtown walkable, then city government is hampering economic development, not helping it.

Couple this with an absence of attention to communications capability (read: fiber optic), and you'll see two more reasons why there needs to be a change at the top.

How treating pedestrians better will boost the economy, Matt Wade (Sydney Morning Herald)

Retail is only one reason for making CBDs (central business districts) more pedestrian-friendly. Economic change, especially the growing importance of knowledge-based firms, has made the walkability of business centres all the more important. The exchange of ideas and information is crucial for the productivity of knowledge industries. That's one reason why knowledge-intensive businesses – like finance, insurance, IT and professional services – tend to cluster together in CBDs. Much of the sharing of ideas and knowledge takes place face-to-face. And those face-to-face encounters are very often the result of a walking trip. It might sound old school but walking is vital to our premier business hubs.