A simple guide to 15-minute cities (2024)

FAQs

What are the downsides to 15-minute cities? ›

If you're coming from a poorer area, if you're an African American, the 15-minute-city experience is one that involves just much more experience segregation for them. And so if you want a city that's integrated, you want to eschew the 15-minute city.

The 15-minute city is an urban planning concept that, as its name suggests, aims to create communities where people can access key amenities by travelling no more than 15 minutes on foot or by bike.

The 15-minute city is a proposal for developing a polycentric city, where density is made pleasant, one's proximity is vibrant, and social intensity (a large number of productive, intricately linked social ties) is real.

A 15-minute city means more footfall for local high streets, more local and diverse employment opportunities and the more productive use of buildings and street space.

Higher Cost of Living

With more people concentrated in a city, the cost of living tends to be much higher than in the suburbs or rural areas. You might find more job opportunities with higher salaries in the city, but you also have to consider the larger price tag for rent, groceries, and other necessities.

The term was initially coined in 2016 by Carlos Moreno, a professor at the Sorbonne in Paris, as a way of rethinking urban planning. In his original vision, nobody would be more than a short walk from essential services like doctors, shops or even their job.

The '15-minute' city concept – developed primarily to reduce carbon emissions by decreasing the use of cars and motorised commuting time – is a decentralised urban planning model, in which each local neighbourhood contains all the basic social functions for living and working.

“Other elements critical to creating a successful 15-minute city are social infrastructure, such as schools and health facilities, as well as cultural venues like community centres and libraries,” says Roger. “It's also about designing the streets and the spaces to support conviviality.

Many Northeastern communities are quite walkable — New York City enjoys a 15-minute usage of 42%. Unfortunately, some of the fastest-growing parts of the country have the lowest levels of 15-minute usage.

Is San Francisco a 15-minute city? ›

San Francisco is ripe for this type of bold change.

Our existing neighborhood layout lends itself to the 15 minute model, and a recent study ranks us as the second most viable 15 minute city in the US (behind Miami!).

15-minute cities are a trending urban planning topic that has long been discussed academically and is now slowly being implemented across existing cities in Europe. But now, the first 15-minute city is being designed and built from scratch in Utah.

Overwhelming of essential services and facilities

If residents are conditioned to travel to amenities within a 15-minute walk, ride or bus journey, healthcare services can eventually become overrun in areas with higher population density – particular during seasonal illness and in situations like the COVID-19 pandemic.

This ecological transformation is based on four pillars: proximity, diversity, density, and ubiquity − aiming to fulfil the basic social functions of living, working, supplying, caring, learning and enjoying.

The term "15-minute cities'' imagines cities where most daily necessities and services, such as work, shopping, education, healthcare, and leisure, are accessible within a 15-minute walk or bike from their homes.

Drawbacks or disadvantages of smart city

➨Even if money was available, most of the smart technologies are still in their pre-commercial stage. Cities lack technology related skills and capacity. ➨Cities find it difficult to work across departments and boundaries. ➨There are concerns about data privacy and security.

The Cons of Living In a Master-Planned Community:

This can result in less customization and uniqueness in the communities — at least on the exterior of homes. Homeowners Association (HOA) dues – Many master-planned communities require HOA fees, which can be more expensive than some homeowners are willing to pay.

Living in an overcrowded metropolis is the biggest drawback of urban existence. Because of the limited space and late-night events, your privacy is restricted. Privacy is simple to get in rural areas as compared to a city.

Poor air and water quality, insufficient water availability, waste-disposal problems, and high energy consumption are exacerbated by the increasing population density and demands of urban environments. Strong city planning will be essential in managing these and other difficulties as the world's urban areas swell.