Towards a research agenda to better understand the role of walking for healthy ageing and wellbeing in African cities

Walking is the most common mode of travel in African cities and is central to older adults’ mobility, independence and wellbeing. Yet the environments in which older people walk remain unsafe, fragmented and poorly understood. As Africa undergoes rapid demographic ageing, the role of walking in supporting healthy ageing, through access to services, income generation, and the mobility of care, demands greater research and policy attention. Existing evidence highlights substantial barriers, including inadequate pedestrian infrastructure, hazardous road environments, environmental exposures and the absence of age-responsive planning. These constraints limit older adults’ ability to walk safely and contribute to avoidable health, social and economic vulnerabilities. This editorial outlines a research agenda that repositions walking as both a health-promoting behaviour and a form of urban care; calls for redesigned, age-friendly pedestrian environments; emphasises the need for age-disaggregated data on cumulative exposures and; stresses policy accountability from adoption through implementation. Advancing this agenda can help shift African cities from contexts where walking is a necessity undertaken in hostile conditions to places where walking is supported, safe, and central to healthy and dignified ageing.