Rat race speeding up

A new study shows the pace of life for city dwellers is literally getting faster.

Singapore's residents have been found to be walking the fastest, followed by Copenhagen and Madrid.

New York, generally considered one of the world's most frenetic cities, is eighth, while London has come 12th and Tokyo is placed 16th in the British study.

The study has found that people's walking speeds have increased globally by 10 per cent over the last decade, with the biggest increases in the far east.

In Singapore, walking pace has risen by 30 per cent and in Guangzhou, China, the figure is 20 per cent.

The most laid-back places are Blantyre in Malawi and Manama, Bahrain.

The research was carried out by Professor Richard Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire, who measured the average time it took 35 adults in each city to walk 18 metres.

"By 2040, we'll be arriving before we set off," he said

"The psychology is basically that people's walking pace is determined by how much they think they're in a hurry, how quickly they think they should be doing things.

"I believe a lot of it is technology-driven. What's amazing is that these days, you press send on an email and if someone hasn't responded in 10 minutes, you think: 'Where are they?'"

He says people worried about whether their lives are too frantic should ask themselves questions like whether they were often first to finish meals, if they feel frustrated when stuck behind others walking down the street and whether they walk out of shops if there is a small queue.