Is The 15-Minute City Possible?

Last year, Milan included references to the 15-Minute City in the public document Milan 2020 Adaptation Strategy. What are we talking about? This concept aims to guarantee every citizen the ability to reach essential services from their home in fifteen minutes, on foot or by bicycle. However, this isn’t a brand-new idea but has very deep origins. This urban typology was developed by Clarence Perry and emerged in 1923. The “neighborhood units” provided compact residential neighborhoods that, through the combination of services, housing, and public spaces, could give residents a social and cultural identity on a local scale. The plan failed because there weren’t enough funds and a collective vision supported by the federal government was lacking.

In 2015, during the COP21 Paris Climate Conference, the C40 Cities Network’s mayors met to discuss new alternative ways of sustainable development in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. The new urban concept, promoted years ago by Sorbonne professor Carlos Moreno, was popularized by Anne Hidalgo (Mayor of Paris) and Ada Colau (Mayor of Barcelona). Contemporary neighborhood units take on different forms, from the 15- or 30-minute city, up to the 20-minute neighborhood, but the principle is the same as in 1923: to reprogram infrastructures and activities in order to create areas where citizens can reach all essential services in a few minutes.

Of all the European cities, Barcelona is the most advanced: since 2016, the urban redevelopment, which completed its first executive phase in 2019, was shared with inhabitants, traders, and public service managers. The result is two superilles—Sant Antoni and Poble Nou— blocks of 500 × 500 meters in which traffic is excluded and services, pedestrian, and public areas are upgraded. At the moment, there are significant data points from the analysis of the effects of the intervention, such as a reduction of NO2 (caused by vehicular traffic). However, these are central districts, already well supplied with services and connections. The real result of this new urban typology can only be assessed when the interventions in the suburbs begin, whether in Barcelona or Milan.

However, to guarantee all essential services within 15 minutes from one’s home, it’s not only necessary to rethink the urban fabric but, above all, the economic one. If many of us are forced to spend a couple of hours on public transport or in our vehicle every day, it’s because it is necessary. To have a real 15-minute city, we need to rethink the economy of the city itself: workplaces, education, but also the real estate system. Domestic isolation has made us understand how important the local economy is: those who live in central areas already have everything they need within a few kilometers, but those who are in peripheral or residential neighborhoods need to move further. In this case, the real estate market is fundamental: the difference in the market value of properties between central and suburban districts creates an economic gap between neighborhoods and therefore a different lifestyle. The 15-Minute City imposes an urban development that has the well-being of all citizens as its ultimate goal: cities must be inclusive, ensuring that everyone (from children to the elderly) has access to necessary services equally and without discrimination.

To conclude, is a 15-Minute City possible? Yes, but it will take a lot of effort from everyone. Each neighborhood should have services such as schools, offices, businesses, bars, restaurants, hospitals, municipal offices, green areas, fountains, cycle paths, and pedestrian areas. We must therefore question the division between city and countryside, center and periphery, and thus also our dependence on vehicles. Everyone should be able to have an education and a job within 15/20 minutes from home: hybrid solutions would be needed here—smart working can play a fundamental role. Digitalization is also crucial, providing everyone with fast and stable internet connections to work, study, and access online services. We need flexible and multifunctional spaces that can satisfy different needs without the need to construct new buildings.

Of course, we as citizens have a fundamental role in this transition. We need a paradigm shift: we often say that “time is money” and then we live in cities that force us to use vehicles and public transport to get around, spending an average of 8 hours away from home only to run away on the weekend in search of relaxation and nature. It’s time to redefine our well-being, re-evaluate the idea of time, work, and lifestyle as we know it. This is the only way to contribute to the creation of more sustainable cities.