ANNUAL CONGRESS 2025

Positive and Normative dimensions of accessibility by proximity for supporting a fair and sustainable 15 min city model

Not scheduled

20m

Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul

Oral SS 12 | Rethinking Accessibility in the 15-Minute City: Global Project Insights

Speakers

Dr Giovanni Lanza (Politecnico di Milano - DAStU)Prof. Paola Pucci (Politecnico di Milano - DAStU)

Description

The presentation introduces several dimensions of the concept of accessibility by proximity that may better frame the actual contribution of proximity in different planning experiences finalised to promote the Xmin city model. Challenging an acritical use of the proximity concept based on the physical spatial-temporal conditions and a focus mainly on dense compact urban contexts, the presentation proposes to enrich this concept by combining a functional dimension of proximity, with a relational one, focused on the exchange of resources and collaboration spontaneously activated in a community, sharing specific accessibility-related needs, problems and mobility opportunities.
Based on this, the presentation aims at

Introducing some considerations on the relationship between the Xmin city model and the accessibility by proximity concept and its relevance for a potential paradigm shift for reorienting transportation and land use planning toward increasing the availability of services, activities, and social contacts in proximity to reduce the need for travel, towards less extensive but more active and sustainable forms, and helping to reinforce internal community ties (Ferreira et al. 2003, 2007).

Proposing a declination of proximity (as a mean) and accessibility by proximity (as an end) that can contribute to deal with the challenging issues in the implementation of X min city. Among them: the risk of standardising people’s needs and underestimating the demands of different social groups, reproducing existing inequalities (Cooke et al. 2022); and limited replicability in several different socio-spatial as in suburban, peri-urban and rural areas (Guzman et al., 2021); an increase in housing prices, gentrification and displacement of vulnerable populations (Dunning et al. 2021;Haarstad et al., 2022: Poorthuis & Zook, 2023) exacerbating social divides (Guironnet and Halbert, 2020).

Presenting an operative framework for dealing with new metrics of accessibility by proximity and its positive and normative dimensions, based on the results of two research projects (https://ex-tra-project.eu/; https://commonaccessproje).