The academic rise of the "15-Minute city" concept as a response to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted numerous structural deficiencies in modern cities, including unequal access to essential services and insufficient infrastructure for local communities. In response to these challenges, the "15-minute city", which enables all daily needs to be met within a 15-minute walk or bike ride, has become a crucial focus in urban planning research. This study examines the concept's growing popularity and scientific significance, utilizing data from the Scopus database containing the term 15-minute city. The findings reveal a marked increase in academic interest after 2020, likely linked to the challenges posed by the pandemic. The research includes an analysis of publications across various scientific fields, such as social sciences, technical disciplines, and environmental sciences. It reflects the concept’s application in cities where the COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed the adoption of more sustainable urban models. The results indicate that the 15-minute city has become a central topic in urban planning discussions. Its interdisciplinary nature integrates social, economic, and environmental dimensions, representing a significant step toward creating resilient and accessible urban environments.
References
Alberti, F., Radicchi, A. 2023. From the Neighbourhood Unit to the 15-Minute City. Past and Recent Urban Models for Post-COVID Cities. Advances in Science, Technology and Innovation, 159–170. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20995-6_15.
Allam, Z., Nieuwenhuijsen, M., Chabaud, D., Moreno, C. 2022. The 15-minute city offers a new framework for sustainability, liveability, and health. The Lancet Planetary Health, 6(3), 181–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00014-6.
Allam, Z., Moreno, C., Chabaud, D., Pratlong, F. 2023. Proximity-Based Planning and the “15-Minute City”: A Sustainable Model for the City of the Future. In: Brinkmann, R. (eds). The Palgrave Handbook of Global Sustainability. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 1523–1542. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38948-2_178-1.
Allam, Z., Chabaud, D., Gall, C., Pratlong, F., Moreno, C. 2023. Chapter 9-Redefining investable infrastructure in developing nations in a postpandemic era: the case of the 15-Minute City. Resilient and Sustainable Cities: Research, Policy and Practice, 135–146, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-91718-6.00001-3.
Basbas, S., Campisi, T., Papas, T., Trouva, M., Tesoriere, G. 2023. The 15-Minute City Model: The Case of Sicily during and after COVID-19. Communications - Scientific Letters of the University of Zilina, 25(2), 83-92, http://komunikacie.uniza.sk/doi/10.26552/com.C.2023.021.html.
Boulanger, S.O.M. 2022. The Roadmap to Smart Cities: A Bibliometric Literature Review on Smart Cities’ Trends before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic. Energies, 15(24) , 9326. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15249326.
C40 Cities 2020. Mayors launch a green and just COVID-19 recovery plan & demand national governments end fossil fuel subsidies, C40 Cities.
C40 Mayors 2020. Agenda for Green and Just Recovery, C40.
Cai, S., Tan, W. 2022. Strategies for building resilience of 15-minute community life circles from the perspective of pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Impacts, 5(3), 249–258. https://doi.org/10.2495/EI-V5-N3-249-258.
Caprotti, F., Duarte, C., Joss, S. 2024a. The 15-minute city as paranoid urbanism: Ten critical reflections. Cities, 155, 105497. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2024.105497.
Chanson, G., Sakka, E. 2023. Coworking and the 15-Minute City. Resilient and Sustainable Cities: Research, Policy and Practice, 3–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-91718-6.00003-7.
Córdoba-Hernández, R., Fernández-Ramírez, C., Hernández-Aja, A., Sánchez-Toscano Salgado, G., Gómez-Giménez, J. M. 2020. Urban areas in front of neighborhoods. Analysis of urban characteristics in the face of the challenge of the post-COVID 19 city: The case of Madrid. / Áreas Urbanas frente a Barrios: análisis de las características urbanas ante el reto de la ciudad post-COVID19: el caso de Madrid. Ciudad y Territorio Estudios Territoriales, 52(205), 665–684, https://doi.org/10.37230/CyTET.2020.205.13.2.
Deshpande, R., Vijay Patel, S., Weijenberg, C., Nisztuk, M., Corcuera, M., Luo, J., Zhu, Q. 2023. Generative Pre-trained Transformers for 15-minute City Design, in: Koh, I., Reinhardt, D., Makki, M., Khakhar, M., Bao, N.(Eds) Human-Centric: Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA). Hong Kong: The Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia, 595–604, http://hdl.handle.net/10453/170663.
Enab, D., Zawawi, Z., Mounajjed, N. 2024. Exploring an Architectural Paradigm for the 15-minute City Planning Model: Towards Reforming Gaps of Services in Nablus. An-Najah University Journal for Research - A (Natural Sciences), 38(1), 67–76. https://doi.org/10.35552/anujr.a.38.1.2164.
Fayyaz, M., González-González, E., Nogués, S. 2022. Autonomous Mobility: A Potential Opportunity to Reclaim Public Spaces for People. Sustainability, 14 (3), 1568, https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031568.
Gaglione, F., Gargiulo, C., Zucaro, F., Cottrill,C. 2022. Urban accessibility in a 15-minute city: a measure in the city of Naples, Italy. Transportation Research Procedia, 60, 378–385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2021.12.049.
Gallarday, S.T., Valdivia Loro, A. 2023. Quality of Life Metrics in Terms of Facilities and Urban Reputation: A Case Study in the City of Ventanilla, Lima Peru. Civil Engineering and Architecture, 11(1), 372–380. https://doi.org/10.13189/cea.2023.110129.
Geropanta, V., Porreca, R. 2024. The Concept of Proximity in Post-pandemic Architectural Thinking: 15-Minute City and Superblocks. In: Manahasa, E., Naselli, F., Yunitsyna, A. (eds) COVID-19 (Forced) Innovations. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham, 23-37. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-56607-3_3.
Giles-Corti, B., Foster, S., Lynch, B., Lowe, M. 2023. What are the lessons from COVID-19 for creating healthy, sustainable, resilient future cities? npj Urban Sustainability, 3, 29, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-023-00107-y.
Ibrišimbegović, S., Mutevelić, N. 2021. Social, economic and environmental impacts of the pandemic on architecture: New spatial and educational grammars. SAJ − Serbian Architectural Journal, 13(2), 131–148. https://doi.org/10.5937/saj2102131I.
Isaac, C. 2024. An Integral Sustainable Design Framework to Evaluate Transferability of the 15-Minute City to Developing Cities: The Case of Blantyre, Malawi. In: Advances in Science, Technology and Innovation. Springer, Cham, 153–182. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49495-6_12 .
Khavarian-Garmsir, A.R., Sharifi, A, Sadeghi, A. 2023. The 15-minute city: Urban planning and design efforts toward creating sustainable neighborhoods. Cities, 132, 104101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.104101.
Kim, Y., Lee, S. 2025. Neighborhood-level determining factors of travel distance by trip purpose: Policy implications for the N-minute city. Cities, 156, 105464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2024.105464.
Li, Y., Chai, Y., Chen, Z., Li, C. 2023. From lockdown to precise prevention: Adjusting epidemic-related spatial regulations from the perspectives of the 15-minute city and spatiotemporal planning. Sustainable Cities and Society, 92,104490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2023.104490.
Liu, D., Kwan, Mei-Po, Kan, Z., Wang, J. 2022. Toward a Healthy Urban Living Environment: Assessing 15-Minute Green-Blue Space Accessibility. Sustainability,14 (24), 16914, https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416914.
Ludlow, D., Khan, Z., Chrysoulakis, N., Mitraka, Z. 2023. Towards Digital-Twin solutions for the 15 minute city. 2023 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event, JURSE 2023 [Preprint]. https://doi.org/10.1109/JURSE57346.2023.10144161.
Mackness, K., White, I., Barrett, P. 2022. 20-Minute Neighborhoods: Opportunities and Challenges. In: Handbook of Sustainability Science in the Future. Springer, Cham, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68074-9_172-1.
Maestosi, P.C., Andreucci, M.B., Civiero, P. 2021. Sustainable Urban Areas for 2030 in a Post-COVID-19 Scenario: Focus on Innovative Research and Funding Frameworks to Boost Transition towards 100 Positive Energy Districts and 100 Climate-Neutral Cities. Energies, 14 (1), 216, https://doi.org/10.3390/en14010216.
Marchigiani, E., Bonfantini, B. 2022. Urban Transition and the Return of Neighbourhood Planning. Questioning the Proximity Syndrome and the 15-Minute City. Sustainability 14(9),5468,https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095468.
Marín, P., Palomares Pastor, M. 2020. En un entorno de 15 minutos. Hacia la Ciudad de Proximidad, y su relación con el Covid-19 y la Crisis Climática. El caso de Málaga. Ciudad y territorio: Estudios territoriales, (205), 685–700. https://doi.org/10.37230/CyTET.2020.205.13.3.
Marquet, O., Anguelovski , I., Nello-Deakin, S., Honey-Rosés, J. 2024. Decoding the 15-Minute City Debate: Conspiracies, Backlash, and Dissent in Planning for Proximity. Journal of the American Planning Association [Preprint]. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2024.2346596.
Marvin, S., McFarlane, C., Guma, P., Hodson, M., Lockhart, A., McGuirk, P., McMeekin, A., Ortiz, C., Simone, AM, Wiig, A. 2023. Post-pandemic cities: An urban lexicon of accelerations/decelerations. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 48(3), 452–473. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12607.
Mihailova, D., Vance, C. 2024. Promoting active transportation: A comparative assessment of paths and prices. Transportation, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-024-10520-6.
Misztal, M. 2023. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the daily mobility of Warsaw residents. Prace i Studia Geograficzne, 68(3), 23–37.
Mocák, P., Matlovičová, K., Matlovič, R., Pénzes, J., Pachura , P., Mishra, P.K., Kostilníková, K., Demková, M. 2022. 15-minute City Concept as a Sustainable Urban Development Alternative: a Brief Outline of Conceptual Frameworks and Slovak Cities as a Case. Folia Geographica, 64(1), 69–89.
Moore-Cherry, N., Andersen, C.S., Kayanan, C.M. 2023. Engaging 15-minute cities as a new development model: The potential of waterford city. Urban Planning for the City of the Future: A Multidisciplinary Approach, 139–160. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80455-215-520231008.
Moreno, C., Allam, Z., Chabaud, D., Gall, C., Pratlong, F. 2021. Introducing the “15-Minute City”: Sustainability, Resilience and Place Identity in Future Post-Pandemic Cities. Smart Cities, 4(1), 93-111, 4(1), https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities4010006.
Mullachery, P.H., Li, R., Melly, S., Kolker, J., Barber, S., Diez Roux, A.V., Bilal, U. 2022. Inequities in spatial accessibility to COVID-19 testing in 30 large US cities. Social Science & Medicine, 310, 115307, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115307.
MVRDV. 2018. MVRDV - Vanke 3D City, MVRDV official webpage. Available at: https://www.mvrdv.com/projects/370/vanke-3d-city.
Patimisco, L., Annunziata, A., Murgante, B. 2024. Spatial and Configurational Analysis for the Implementation of the 15-Minute City Model. The Case Study of Perugia, Italy. In: Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering. Springer, Cham, 681–692. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54118-6_60.
Pinto, F., Akhavan, M. 2022. Scenarios for a Post-Pandemic City: urban planning strategies and challenges of making “Milan 15-minutes city”. Transportation Research Procedia, 60, 370–377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2021.12.048.
Pisano, C. 2020. Strategies for Post-COVID Cities: An Insight to Paris En Commun and Milano 2020. Sustainability, 12 (15), 5883, https://doi.org/10.3390/su12155883.
Pozoukidou, G., Angelidou, M. 2022. Urban Planning in the 15-Minute City: Revisited under Sustainable and Smart City Developments until 2030. Smart Cities, 5(4), 1356–1375, https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities5040069.
Pozoukidou, G., Chatziyiannaki, Z. 2021. 15-Minute City: Decomposing the New Urban Planning Eutopia. Sustainability, 13 (2), 928, https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020928.
Ratti, C., Florida, R. 2021. The 15-minute city meets human needs but leaves desires wanting, World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/11/15minute-city-falls-short/ (Accessed: 23 July 2024).
Salih, N.M.M., Hussein, S.H. 2021. Cities after pandemic: enabling social distancing as a new design standard to achieve urban immunity. Acta Scientiarum Polonorum Administratio Locorum, 20(4), 345–360. https://doi.org/10.31648/aspal.6825.
Sharifi, A., Khavarian-Garmsir, A.R. 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic: Impacts on cities and major lessons for urban planning, design, and management. The Science of the Total Environment, 749, 142391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142391.
Song, G., He, X., Kong, Y., Li, K., Song, H., Zhai, S., Luo, J. 2022. Improving the Spatial Accessibility of Community-Level Healthcare Service toward the “15-Minute City” Goal in China. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 11(8), 436. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi11080436.
Technical University of Munich. 2022. Urban Mobility Next 9. ±15-Minute City: Human-Centred Planning in Action. Mobility for more liveable urban spaces. Barcelona: EIT Urban Mobility.
Teller, J. 2021. Urban density and Covid-19: towards an adaptive approach. Buildings and Cities, 2(1), 150–165. https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.89.
United Nations. 2022. World Cities Report 2022: Envisaging the Future of Cities. Nairobi: UN-Habitat.
Valderrama, N.M.F., Luque-Valdivia, J., Aseguinolaza-Braga, I. 2020. The 15 minutes-city, a sustainable solution for postCOVID19 cities? La ciudad del cuarto de hora, ¿una solución sostenible para la ciudad postCOVID-19? Ciudad y Territorio Estudios Territoriales, 2020, 52(205), 653–664.
Vázquez, D.E., Berardo, M.D. 2023. Is there a post-COVID urban model? The pandemic as a catalyst of urban transformations in Buenos Aires. Íconos. Revista de Ciencias Sociales, (75), 57–80. https://doi.org/10.17141/iconos.75.2023.5498.
Vlahov, D., Kurth, A. 2024. The “15-Minute City” Concept in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Climate Change. Journal of Urban Health, 101(4), 669–671. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-024-00897-1.
Wu, F. 2023. Assessing Spatial Accessibility to Public Facilities for Vulnerable People Towards 15-minute City in Hong Kong’, in: Koh, I., Reinhardt, D., Makki, M., Khakhar, M., Bao, N.(Eds) Human-Centric: Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA). Hong Kong: The Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia, 535–544. https://doi.org/10.52842/conf.caadria.2023.1.535.
Copyright (c) 2024 Arhitektura i urbanizam
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.