Webinar: Good for business
The health and economic impacts of making town centres and main streets more walkable
Co-hosted by the Heart Foundation and Mainstreet Australia with Dr Rodney Tolley
Thurs 4 December 2025
11:00am – 12:00pm AEDT | 10:30am – 11:30am ACDT | 9:30-10:30am ACST | 8:00-9:00am AWST
The first edition of the Heart Foundation's evidence paper, Good for business, was published in 2011. It demonstrated that town centres, main streets and their surrounding spaces and footpaths are the heart of our communities. The paper found that retail vitality is best supported by measures which improve the walking, wheeling and bike riding environment. This is also good for heart health!
A 2025 update to the paper advances the conversation by incorporating a review of more than 100 studies, reports and grey literature sources. These have been published predominantly in the last 15 years, both nationally and internationally. The paper also includes case studies from Australia and around the world. The evidence presented in the 2025 edition continues to reinforce and strengthen the findings of the original 2011 edition.
It also advances the conversation with two increasingly salient, and often contested, factors affecting walkability in commercial streets: car parking provision and traffic speed.
Dr Rodney Tolley puts forward four key recommendations to maximise the economic benefits for local business through the design of town centres and main streets, while making them more accessible for people walking, wheeling and bike riding. Many of these are low cost and require minimal intervention.
This webinar will include a 30-minute presentation from Dr Tolley, followed by audience Q and A.
The 2025 evidence paper can be accessed here
Dr Rodney Tolley - Active Transport Consultant, Researcher, Writer and Presenter
Dr Rodney Tolley has been involved in the field of active, sustainable transport for over 40 years, first as a university researcher and teacher, and now as an experienced writer, international speaker and consultant. He has led hundreds of presentations, walkabouts and workshops in communities across the world, including over 50 cities in Australasia.
He was a founder member of the Steering Group for Walk21, an NGO that raises international awareness of walking issues and supports professionals in the delivery of best practice. He chaired the Walk21 International Conferences on Walking and Livable Cities for over 20 years and was central to the development of the International Charter for Walking, which has been signed by over 500 mayors to lead their communities towards better walkability.
With Paul Tranter of UNSW Canberra Dr Tolley published ‘Slow cities: Conquering our addiction for health and sustainability” (https://www.elsevier.com/books/slow-cities/tranter/978-0-12-815316-1), in June 2020. His next book, again with Paul Tranter, is Foot off the Gas: Fighting Big Speed and the climate crisis (Bibliotopia, in press).
Dr Tolley's passion is walking, and talking walking.