You’re going to have a hard time getting around the buildings and cities of tomorrow.

That is, if a number of urban designers have their way. Modern architecture has been so focused on convenience that it has created an "obesogenic" environment. The answer? Urban planners want to make you sweat.

As Megan Lane reports here for the BBC, the goal is to shift urban life away from conveyance – escalators, elevators, cars – and back to good old bipedal exertion. Good for us, good for the environment.

The obvious example: stairs. Designers like Bruce Fowle want to bring them back into use (reports Alec Appelbaum for Metropolismag). Fowle’s stairways are attractive, inviting spaces, somewhere for pleasantly getting from coffee shop to office.

Image: me*voila