GLASGOW has ranked highly for walking in a poll of the UK’s 10 largest cities.

The city topped fifth place on the list which was done as part of National Walking Month.

Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking, surveyed over 2,000 people living in the UK’s 10 largest cities about how walking friendly they felt their city is.

Glasgow scored particularly highly for the quality of its streets with 70 per cent of people thinking they’re good or better.

The city, however, didn’t do so well in terms of quality of local pavements, with a huge 40 per cent saying they think they’re poor or very poor, and when it comes to personal safety, a quarter feel unsafe or very unsafe when walking.

Stuart Hay, Living Streets Regional Director, said: “It’s great to see Scotland’s largest cities competing well in terms of walking, compared to other parts of the UK. “Glasgow is known as the ‘dear green place’, so it’s no surprise that the city ranks highly, and I’d imagine that Edinburgh’s compact shape and historic street patterns help to encourage high levels of walking.”

He added: “Although the survey suggests that there is a healthy amount of people walking in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Living Streets Scotland’s work and auditing within this region suggests that there is no room for complacency. Without more investment, both Edinburgh and Glasgow could easily tumble down the rankings - especially as English cities take forward ambitious public realm projects.”

Over 75 per cent of Scottish residents said they are more in favour of measures to encourage walking in their city, as Living Streets’ National Walking Month launches this May.

George Gillespie, Executive Director of Land and Environmental Services at Glasgow City Council, said: “We are delighted that Glasgow’s work to encourage more Glaswegians to make more active journey choices, such as walking, is showing dividends.

“We know how important walking and other forms of active travel are to improve our citizens’ health and well-being while also helping to reduce our carbon footprint. Glasgow has a very proactive approach to encouraging all ages, whether on their way to school or work, to take healthy alternatives to the car.

“But we are not being complacent and have to continue to improve our streets and footpath network. In our recent budget, for example, we particularly earmarked separate funding to help with a major programme of pavement renewal. We are also looking a major programme of street and pavement resurfacing and improvements through funding from the Glasgow City Region City Deal. In the meantime we would encourage all Glaswegians to get out and about to enjoy their city in an active and healthy way.”

This National Walking Month Living Streets are asking people to rate their everyday walks to build a picture of the walking environment around the UK. Rate your walk at www.livingstreets.org.uk/rateyourwalk

This National Walking Month is the launch of the charity’s Walking Cities campaign. Living Streets wants city leaders and transport professionals to design cities around people, not vehicles. Seven steps for change include; Make Walking a priority, Plan for walking, Create a walking network, Design streets as places to enjoy, Provide attractive alternatives to the car, Make walking safe and Change behaviour and celebrate streets.