Walking Faster, Hanging Out Less

Why It Matters

The study signals that public spaces increasingly function as thoroughfares rather than venues for chance encounters, a trend with implications for urban designers and civic life seeking to counter digital polarization.

Summary

An MIT‑coauthored study finds urban life has become brisker and less social: average walking speeds in Boston, New York and Philadelphia rose 15% from 1980 to 2010 while the share of people lingering in public spaces fell 14%. Researchers applied machine‑learning to William Whyte’s 1980s street footage and recent videos from the same locations to quantify the change, attributing shifts partly to cellphone use and a turn toward indoor meetups like coffee shops. The study signals that public spaces increasingly function as thoroughfares rather than venues for chance encounters, a trend with implications for urban designers and civic life seeking to counter digital polarization.