Just two decades ago, more people lived in rural areas than in cities. But that has now changed. Around 56% of the world’s population now live in cities, and the trend is rising. According to the United Nations, two-thirds of the approximately 10 billion people who will inhabit the earth by 2050 will live in built-up areas.
This constant expansion of cities has revealed serious cracks in their planning, bringing to light problems such as social injustice and exclusion, inadequate public transport networks and health problems related to smog. One idea that has recently gained traction as a pathway to a more sustainable, livable and healthier future is 15-minute cities.
The idea behind the concept is to build cities in such a way that most everyday necessities and services are within a 15-minute walk or bike ride. Carlo Moreno, an urbanist and professor at Sorbonne University in Paris, first came up with the idea in 2016. He wanted everyone to have easy access to shops, schools, doctors, the gym, parks, restaurants and cultural venues.
Many people who live in cities today can only dream of this and instead have to deal with traffic jams or poor public transport to get to their destination.
Human-centric design
Benjamin Büttner, a mobility expert at the TU Munich, says that in order to create more sustainable cities, things like green spaces, sports facilities, cinemas and shops must be relocated to where people live, and not the other way around.
And that doesn’t mean that they have to be demolished and rebuilt, but that existing public space has to be rearranged.
The 15-minute city also offers a mobility concept: fewer cars and more space for cyclists and pedestrians, safe routes for children, people with disabilities or the elderly, and places for social interaction.
“Cars are a problem, at least in urban areas. They take up too much space and can hinder active mobility,” said Büttner.
From Paris to Shanghai: more and more cities are remodeling
There are already 16 cities worldwide that have implemented the 15-minute city concept or similar ideas or are working on it. The approaches are different: some cities want to implement 20-minute concepts, others 10-minute concepts, others again either focus on individual districts or rely on replicating the entire city.
The French capital is one of the pioneers. After Carlos Moreno unveiled his concept in 2016, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo introduced it in her re-election campaign and began implementing it during the pandemic.
At the core of the Parisian concept, schools are ‘capitals’, making them the center of each neighbourhood. Schoolyards are being turned into parks to make them accessible for other after-school and weekend activities.
Paris also wants to convert half of its 140,000 parking spaces into green spaces, playgrounds, neighborhood meeting points or bicycle parking spaces. By 2026, streets across Paris are set to be bike-friendly.
In 2016, Shanghai announced plans to introduce so-called “15-minute community living circles,” a plan that would ensure all daily activities are within a 15-minute walk. Another 50 Chinese cities want to implement the concept.
An initiative in Great Britain also aims to improve the quality of life for city dwellers. As part of its nationwide reintroduction scheme, the UK government announced plans to allow anyone to walk to green spaces or open waters within 15 minutes of their home.
The “superilles” or super districts of Barcelona
The Spanish city of Barcelona is experimenting with so-called “superilles” or super neighborhoods. The concept takes several apartment blocks and combines them into a super block. Only residents or delivery services have access by car and the speed limit is 10 kilometers (6 miles) per hour.
Many roads are closed to cars and are used differently instead. Previous parking lots were dedicated to trees, vegetables and flowers and are now places for children to play and people to while away the time on shady benches.
Büttner calls this approach “tactical urbanism”. The concept will be tested for two to six months “to see whether the situation has improved or worsened,” he says. “In that case, you can still say, ‘Let’s go back to how it was before.’ But when it gets better, you can make it a permanent measure.”
Currently, 60% of Barcelona’s public space and 85% of its streets are used for traffic. More than half of the city’s residents face noise and hazardous levels of air pollution well above World Health Organization limits. The new districts should reduce motorized traffic by 21%.
Will Less Traffic Hurt Businesses?
Studies show that more cycling and walking in cities saves money because less is invested in road maintenance and the health sector.
The positive impact of cycling is estimated at more than €90 billion (US$96 billion) in the EU alone. By way of comparison: mobilized transport causes more than 800 billion euros in costs for health, the environment and infrastructure every year.
Many store owners fear the 15 Minute City idea will result in a slump in sales as customers will no longer be able to reach them by car. But in the western US city of Portland, a 20% drop in car traffic following the introduction of a 20 Minute City concept also left an additional $1.2 billion in the local economy.
15 minute city concept different for each location
To ensure that as many people as possible benefit from urban change and avoid new imbalances and gentrification, experts emphasize the need to roll out the concept across all districts and to ensure that there is a good social mix among those involved. It also requires a rethinking of regulations and traditional planning categories such as inner cities, neighborhoods, suburbs and business parks that have led to inequality and exclusion in cities around the world.
According to Büttner, the political will and courage of politics and administration as well as the dialogue with citizens and all those involved are decisive. Because there is no one-size-fits-all solution for all cities.
Every place and every social, economic and ecological structure of a city is different, says Büttner. The decision as to which measures are best therefore depends on the context.
This article was originally published in German.
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