City taking right steps to encourage walking: expert

But it appears the city has some work to do, with a survey finding almost a third of respondents did not make any walking trips in a day.

Rodney Tolley, a director with Walk 21, is in Canberra to help government and non-government agencies such as the Heart Foundation and Canberra CBD Limited understand how to make the city more walker-friendly.

''There's a realisation around the world that walking and the use of public space is absolutely critical, not only for an individual's health but the health of the economies of those cities as well,'' he said.

Dr Tolley said it was the role of government to create and improve public spaces that attracted people outside and encouraged walking. Melbourne was a leader in Australia; Copenhagen was the ideal in Europe.

He said the ACT Government's $1.7million Alinga Street project, which improved the footpath and lighting between City West and Northbourne Avenue, was a good example of that happening in Canberra. ''If you create a great public space, then people will come and then the economic activity will follow,'' he said.

And Dr Tolley said Canberra did have areas of ''good walkability''.

''The spread-out nature of the city makes walking from one centre to another difficult but within the centres that isn't an issue,'' he said.

Walk 21 surveyed Canberra residents last year and found more than 95 per cent found their walking environment pleasant or very pleasant. Improving security and lighting were seen as key to improving those environments.

A total of 37 per cent of respondents walked for more than 30 minutes on the day reported but 29 per cent made no walking trips on the day.

Dr Tolley said light rail might be a good idea but it depended on the detail.

''It depends on density and patronage and if you don't have the right kind of potential usage it could be a very expensive white elephant.

''On the other hand, it's been the making of many cities.''