Is Cairo a runnable city? Spatiotemporal analysis of the urban core of compact cities

Cities are complex, a resultant of heterogeneous systems interacting with human movement and vehicular mobility through time. In town planning literature, pedestrian behaviour and in particular walkability is a desirable trait in emerging cities pursing more sustainable mobility and healthier communities. The urban morphology of some compact cities and towns, doesn’t help locals physically interact with the city. They do not have the luxury of walking in the park or walking to the nearby the nearest amenities. In these vicinities, it is even nearly impossible to go for a jog or a morning run in the weekend. This is an outcome of various reasons, among which are the social barriers, cultural taboos, safety, social security, urban fabric, street network, and spatial configurations. Pedestrian power is kept to a minimum as roads are superseded by automotive traffic, the built environment, or the bridges over congested areas. Despite that, trends observed show that urban running has been steadily increasing over the past few years. Given the ample health benefits runners get by practicing a free of charge activity that doesn’t require equipment or coaching; running down the streets has gained more popularity worldwide. The built environment is an influential factor that affects the willingness of running and the engagement of novice runners. This research interrogates the relation between the spatial configurations and societal act of running in the city. It investigates the urban issues related to running environments of compact cities taking the largest metropolitan city in Egypt, Greater Cairo, the largest urban area in Africa and the 6th largest metropolitan city in the world. With a multi-method approach, this paper sheds light on the most frequently experienced running routes of Greater Cairo. Runnability has been quantified by certain measures and qualities.