The concept of the 15-minute city goes back to the urbanist Carlos Moreno and by no means exclusively involves new ways of thinking and planning: A city of short distances with a social and functional mix has existed in urban planning concepts since the 1980s and still exists today (Kurth, 2021, p. 28). Moreno focuses on reducing car traffic and defined the 15-minute city in 2016, in which...
X-minute city (XMC) policies represent a proximity-based planning approach designed to promote local living and active travel. These policies have gained significant attention in both research and practice, particularly since the mayor of Paris incorporated Carlos Morenoโs 15-minute city framework into her 2020 re-election campaign. In this paper, we review thirty-seven studies that explore...
The 15-minute city concept has gained prominence as a sustainable urban planning framework, advocating for the localization of daily activities by ensuring that essential services and amenities are accessible within a short walk or bike ride from residences. However, this concept raises a critical question: does living in high accessibility conditions inherently lead to proximity-based...
The concept of proximity can be a useful framework for interpreting and designing the urban environment. It aids in understanding spatial and social relationships while serving as a design tool to shape those interactions. This paper explores the resurgence of proximity in urban planning, offering insights for policymakers and designers.
The concept of proximity has gained international...
The 15-minute city concept, pioneered by Carlos Moreno, aims to revolutionize urban sustainability by reducing dependency on private vehicles and promoting public transport, active and shared mobility. This paper evaluates the concept's effectiveness in reducing GHG emissions, improving air quality, and decreasing urban sprawl. Further, it examines the concept's impact on social inclusion for...
With the significant growth of urban populations, cities are expanding rapidly, making urban sprawl a critical global challenge that necessitates urgent attention in policy agendas. This trend leads to various negative outcomes, such as increased energy consumption from a heightened reliance on automobiles, elevated levels of air and water pollution, and severe traffic congestion that hinders...
The 15-minute city (15minC) model has emerged as a guiding framework for just and sustainable urban development, prioritizing proximity, connectivity, and diversity to enhance residentsโ quality of life. While widely applied in dense urban centers, its implementation in suburban areas faces particular challenges due to the lower density, insufficient connectivity, and limited diversity in the...
Urban areas face challenges like climate change and socioeconomic crises, necessitating innovative planning. Their inability to manage global shocks locally underscores long-term structural, organizational, and governance vulnerabilities (Pozoukidou & Plastara, 2025). At this edge, the 15-minute City (15mC) concept emerged as an innovative neighborhood-based approach for sustainable urban...
In the second half of the 20th century with the expansion of motorised transport "traffic function" of the streets started to dominate over the "place functionโ. The up-to-date urban mobility faces critical problems that require fast, innovative and effective solutions. One of the most visible problems is traffic congestion, which reduces traffic efficiency, increases pollution levels and...
This study explores the potential of Turkeyโs mid-sized cities to align with the "15-minute city" concept, emphasizing proximity, inclusivity, and sustainability. These cities, characterized by compact urban areas where most residents live within a 3-km radius, inherently support walkable, proximity-based urban planning. However, rising automobilization and minimal car use restrictions along...
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...
Recent studies have explored the "15-minute city" concept, which aims to provide essential urban services within a short distance of residents. Researchers have developed various methodologies to evaluate accessibility, including network-based frameworks considering human mobility patterns (Zhang et al., 2022) and GIS-based approaches to measure proximity at the neighborhood level (Chiaradia...
Street experiments are increasingly adopted as planning measures to help communities visualize โradically different arrangements of the urban mobility systemโ(Bertolini 2020). These interventions foster active mobility and public life through relatively short-term, low-resource, and small-scale spatial transformations that enable โhere and nowโ changes to streetscapes. Despite their potential,...
With the enhancement of intercity travel convenience and the effective sharing of urban public resources, commuting patterns have evolved beyond single-city boundaries, increasingly reflecting inter-regional mobility. Compared to intra-city commuting, intercity commuting is characterized by a larger spatiotemporal scope, longer commuting durations, and a greater reliance on transportation...
Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) aims to guide urban development through rail transit, with rail transit stations serving as pivotal urban nodes for the concentration of people and urban activities. The opening of new rail transit lines can increase the attractiveness of the station areas by improving accessibility and fostering changes in land use and amenities, thereby enhancing urban...
The movement of goods is integral to the daily lives of households and the operations of businesses, influencing the development of cities. In high-density urban areas such as Shanghai, China, trucks serve as the primary agents of goods transportation, yet they confront strict constraints. Studying the behavior patterns of urban freight car flows can reduce costs and enhance efficiency within...
Sustainability strategies in the mobility sector are often concentrated on large metropolitan hubs or on main transport corridors. On the one hand, in fact, cities have been a field of experimentation for a mobility model alternative to the car-centric one. On the other, resources and institutional efforts have been concentrated to create and strengthen direct connections between them,...
As societies strive for sustainability, the mobility transition emerges as one of the most pressing challenges of spatial planning, influencing not only transportation networks but also the interconnected systems of energy, housing, and social infrastructures. This presentation addresses the challenge of achieving a socio-ecological mobility transition that considers diverse spatial...
Global climate change has led to an increase in extreme heat events, which significantly impacts urban mobility, particularly bike-sharing systems. While considerable research has focused on the effects of the physical environment on urban mobility resilience (UMR), few studies have addressed the socio-economic impacts, and even fewer have examined the combined influence of both systems. This...
Context: Cycling for transportation is increasingly recognised as a core strategy to combat the climate emergency, particularly in urban environments. Over the past few years, bike-sharing services have evolved from novel experiments to integral components of urban transportation networks, offering a flexible and valuable opportunity to attract new users to cycling and promote sustainable...
While there is a global push towards active mobility, many regions encounter challenges in achieving successful transformative action. Nonetheless, intriguing exceptions exist, such as in the Netherlands, where individuals adopt active modes like cycling despite adverse weather conditions. This phenomenon suggests that travel decisions are not merely considered decision but also habitual...
The current discourse around mobility transition sits on a spectrum that stretches between decarbonization objectives and inclusionary agendas. As a result, scholarship has argued for a just and equitable transition towards low-carbon modes (Martens, 2017; Sheller, 2018; Schwanen, 2021). In this transition narrative, micromobility is promoted as a sustainable means of transport for short...
The object of this present study is to reveal the spatial configuration of 55 Norwegian towns and cities related to degree of walkability potentials. The aim is to investigate to what extent the street or road profile affect the walkability potentials in the town centres based on the distribution of roads in comparison of streets based on street names. The reason as to why we focus on the town...
The WALKMORE project addresses a critical aspect of planning and developing efficient and sustainable transport systems for the future: encouraging more walking. This is examined within the context of small Norwegian cities from both planning and user perspectives, through three main research activities (WPs):
1. Examining planning processes that shape the built environment.
2. Investigating...
Over the last 30 years, significant research consolidated the Walkability Indexes in measurements of the pedestrian-friendly built environment (Dovey, 2020; Frank et al., 2021; Moura et al., 2017). These studies provide robust evidence of the benefits of walkability, highlighting its benefits on health, quality of life, and environment (Lowe et al., 2022). Such contributions underscore...
Livable cities, responding the needs of their citizens, should encourage social interaction, and consider environmental sustainability. In this context, walkability plays a critical role in the design of livable cities. While walkability refers to the physical, social and environmental features that enable pedestrian mobility and increase accessibility in cities, urban design includes spatial...
Pedestrian comfort and mobility are crucial considerations in urban planning, particularly in densely populated megacities like Shanghai, where commercial districts serve as key hubs for pedestrian traffic. While existing research on walkability primarily focuses on broad urban metrics such as land use and pedestrian infrastructure, there is a noticeable gap in understanding how specific...
Urban green spaces significantly influence walking behaviour, offering both physical and mental health benefits. However, existing research often relies on static, residence-based measures of green exposure, overlooking the dynamic nature of individualsโ daily mobility patterns. This study addresses this gap by examining the relationship between green space exposure and walking behaviour, with...
Contemporary urban development is gradually shifting from "incremental expansion" to a high-quality development model characterized by "stock optimization" and "people-centered" approaches. The concept of the "Future Community Living Circle" has garnered widespread attention, focusing on meeting residents' diverse and personalized daily needs and enhancing life satisfaction through the...
Social housing is a crucial lever for breaking the cycle of structural poverty, although its effectiveness can vary depending on the location. Nevertheless, the accessibility of social housing, essential for reducing mobility-related exclusion, is an underexplored topic and thus far, the relationship between accessibility of social housing and mobility-related social exclusion is poorly...
Several cities worldwide have adopted planning policies aimed at rethinking the role of public spaces to foster active mobility and social interaction. This trend, strengthened by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, reflects growing awareness of the negative externalities associated with the dominance of cars in urban environments. Through interventions that reorganize the form and use of...
While Transit Oriented Development has been a long-standing paradigm in sustainable urbanism, there remains a common disconnect between the specific approaches of transit infrastructure and service planning on the one hand, and the internal design of local neighbourhoods on the other hand. This connect is partly owed to disciplinary barriers and the associated differing professional cultures,...
This study investigates whether the implementation ofย superblocksย in Barcelonaโa high-profile urban intervention aimed at improving environmental and social qualityโhas triggered anย electoral backlashย against the ruling party responsible for the intervention. Superblocks were progressively implemented betweenย 2015 and 2019, with additional expansions in subsequent years, allowing us to test...
In recent years, urban proximity has received renewed attention in urban and transport planning as cities strive to create environments that promote sustainability, health and overall quality of life. While the environmental and health benefits of proximal urban environments are well documented - such as reduced carbon emissions, improved air quality and increased physical activity - the...
Many municipalities and public authorities seek to decarbonize transport and inspire a modal shift towards increased walking, cycling or public transport. However, the urban form poses a major obstacle. The sprawling highway infrastructure causes fragmentation of urban regions and wide roads act as barrier for pedestrians and cyclists. It is often impossible to walk, cycle or use public...
Broader research frame setting the stage
Urban public spaces are under significant pressure due to acute scarcity, unequal accessibility, and insufficient versatility, leading to a lack of opportunities for human encounters and complicating solutions to environmental, climate, and health-related challenges. Moreover, the deficiency of green public spaces particularly impacts the...
Cities today are shaped by a dynamic interplay of population growth, diverse services, and digital connectivity. As remote working and online interactions continue to expand (Moreno et al., 2021), scholars and practitioners alike have intensified their focus on multi-dimensional densityโencompassing physical, social, and functional aspectsโand its impact on accessibility, productivity, and...
Public transportation accessibility in modern cities significantly influences individual mobility efficiency and is a crucial factor in enhancing urban competitiveness and ensuring balanced regional development. However, disparities in accessibility persist across different areas, limiting mobility in regions with underdeveloped public transportation networks. This, in turn, restricts access...
This study investigates the interplay between walking, urban vitality, and the distinction between static (residential) and dynamic (activity-based) exposures in urban environments. Using GPS tracking data from participants in Palma de Mallorca, we examine the vitality of spaces encountered during walking trips compared to residential environments. The findings reveal that walking...
With the rapid development of global transportation infrastructure, station areas have become critical nodes in multi-scale transportation networks. However, research on the impact of multi-scale accessibility on functional configuration and development intensity in station areas remains insufficient. This study employs multi-centrality analysis to quantify the positional characteristics of...
In the era of global crises, urban planning is confronted with multiple challenges, including climate change, social inequality, and resource scarcity. Urban rail transit networks, as critical infrastructure, significantly reshape urban spatial agglomeration patterns and morphological characteristics by guiding population flows (Yang et al., 2020). Consequently, they have become a vital lever...
In recent years, the connectivity between key cities and adjacent municipalities within the Shanghai Metropolitan Area has intensified, rendering cross-regional commuting a prevalent occurrence. China has rapidly constructed Suburban Railways to satisfy the need for quick regional mobility. Unlike Japan Railways (JR) lines and Rรฉseau Express Rรฉgional (RER) lines, Chinaโs Suburban Railway...
Over the past decades, China's rail transit systems have undergone rapid development, emerging as one of the largest networks globally in terms of operational length for both inter- and intra-city rail systems. In recent years, China has implemented policies to enhance the integration of different types of rail transit, including high-speed railway (HSR), conventional railway, inter-city...
In the past decades, the condensation of urban networks of metro and rail lines is reshaping the spatial configuration of cities and transforming travel patterns, thereby influencing urban development patterns and intensities. (Desjardins et al., 2014)With continuous urban growth, the densification of metro and rail networks have given rise to multi-station aggregate hubs formed by...
If recent policy announcements are to be believed, Sydney and Melbourne, Australiaโs two largest cities, appear destined for major disruptions driven by two headline policies being implemented in the third decade of the 21st century: transit-oriented development (TOD) and local living policies in the form of 15- and 20-minute neighbourhoods. These policies share complementary aims of reducing...
This study examines urban rail transit usage in Istanbul, offering critical insights into the challenges faced by developing countries in integrating transit infrastructure with rapid urbanization. Using regression models based on the node and place characteristics of rail stations (Bertolini, 1996), the research evaluates factors influencing passenger dynamics at rail stations between 2017...
In Metropolitan areas, the demand for high-frequency and high-time-value travel between megacity and its surrounding cities is continuously growing. In 2023, the commuting scale between Shanghai and its neighboring cities reached 155,000 people, with a growth rate exceeding 60% over five years. Due to its geographical location and economic industrial advantages, Suzhou has become the city most...
In recent years, terms such as "stock-oriented development" (ๅญ้ๅๅฑ, development based on existing assets) and "high-quality development" (้ซ่ดจ้ๅๅฑ, development emphasizing sustainability, equity, and efficiency) have become increasingly prevalent in government documents and scholarly papers on urban planning in China. After four decades of rapid urbanization involving an unprecedented scale of...
Promoting public transport can significantly contribute to achieving climate neutrality goals, particularly in Europe, where 25% of CO2 emissions originate from the transport sector (European Parliament, 2023). In order to move towards this direction, many European cities have equipped themselves with innovative public transport systems. These include the โmodern European tramโ (Heipp &...
