Speaker
Description
The 15-minute city concept has become a popular and actionable framework for accessibility-based planning. However, narrow interpretations of the concept are problematic as they prescribe a complete decentralization of urban functions overlooking the holistic nature of the 15 min city concept. Such narrow interpretations may lead to unrealistic goals or adverse effects on sustainability and social inclusion, particularly in less dense urban areas, limiting the concept’s applicability and its ability to achieve desired outcomes. Therefore, this paper proposes pathways for place-based, people-centred accessibility planning to achieve the underlying ideals of the 15-minute city across diverse urban forms. Departing from the view that cities function as complex adaptive systems, characterized by dynamic and partly uncoordinated interactions among urban agents, the paper calls for a condition-based approach that fosters various potential transport and land-use configurations within set but adaptable normative boundaries. Participatory processes and adaptability are central to this approach, as they enable co-exploration of development pathways and responsiveness to change through generating situational accessibility knowledge, mutual learning, and cyclical assessment of normative boundaries.
