The 15-minute city (FMC or 15mC) is a city planning idea where most daily needs—such as work, shopping, schools, hospitals, and places for fun—can be reached within 15 minutes by walking, biking, or using public transportation from any location in the city. This plan helps reduce the need for cars, supports healthier and more environmentally friendly living, and improves the happiness and quality of life for people who live in cities.

To create a 15-minute city, planners often use mixed-use development, which combines homes, businesses, and services in one area. They also design streets that are safe for pedestrians, improve public transit options, and create policies that make car use less necessary. Changes in how people work, such as remote jobs that reduce daily commutes, are supported by modern technology. This idea is sometimes called a "return to a local way of life."

As more people work from home or near their homes, there is less need for large office buildings in city centers. Instead, there is a growing need for smaller, flexible workspaces in neighborhoods. The 15-minute city plan suggests creating a network of workspaces close to where people live, which reduces long commutes and helps balance work and personal time.

This concept is based on earlier city planning ideas that focus on walkability and mixing different types of buildings, such as New Urbanism and transit-oriented development. These approaches also support walkable areas, mixed-use buildings, and communities that are compact and easy to live in. Some models suggest building 15-minute cities using smaller areas called "5-minute neighborhoods," which are also known as complete or walkable communities. For walking, a 15-minute radius is about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles).

The idea became widely known after Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo included it in her 2020 re-election campaign. Since then, many cities around the world have adopted similar goals. Researchers also use the 15-minute city model to study how accessible different parts of a city are.

In early 2023, some people spread false claims that 15-minute cities were tools for government control, claiming they were a way to limit car use. These claims were not supported by evidence.

History

The 15-minute city idea comes from old ideas about living close to where people work and walk, such as Clarence Perry's neighborhood unit plan. Carlos Moreno, who advises Anne Hidalgo, said Jane Jacobs' ideas from her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities inspired the 15-minute city. Jacobs believed cities should have neighborhoods with a mix of homes, shops, and offices. She also thought cities should not rely too much on cars or spread out too far. She said cities work best when local people help shape them and when daily life is easy for people to manage. These ideas match the 15-minute city concept.

The climate crisis and the global COVID-19 pandemic have made people think more about the 15-minute city. In July 2020, the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group shared a plan for cities to rebuild better using the 15-minute city idea. The plan included examples from Milan, Madrid, Edinburgh, and Seattle after the pandemic. The report said cities should involve communities in planning through methods like letting people decide how to spend money on city projects. It also said cities should change plans and build areas that are dense and have everything people need nearby.

In April 2020, Massimo Paolini, an architecture theorist, published a manifesto in Barcelona called Manifesto for the Reorganisation of the City after COVID-19. The plan suggested big changes to how cities are organized after the pandemic. Over 2,000 people, including 160 academics and 350 architects, supported the plan. The plan had four main goals: changing how people move around cities, making more natural spaces in cities, making housing not tied to profit, and reducing overall growth.

In early 2023, some far-right groups spread false ideas that 15-minute cities were tools for the government to control people by limiting car use. However, 15-minute city plans do not stop people from using cars. Some cities have separate rules to reduce traffic, but these are not connected to the 15-minute city idea.

Research models

The 15-minute city is a plan for creating a city with many centers, where people can live comfortably, have access to important places nearby, and enjoy strong social connections. A key part of this idea, called "chrono-urbanism," focuses on how time is used rather than how much time is spent.

In 2016, urbanist Carlos Moreno introduced the 15-minute city concept. This plan ensures that people can complete six important daily tasks within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from home: living, working, shopping, getting healthcare, attending school, and enjoying entertainment. The plan has four main parts: density (having many people and buildings in one area), proximity (being close to needed places), diversity (mixing different uses of space and cultures), and digitalization (using technology to improve city life).

Moreno refers to the work of Nikos Salingaros, who suggests that an ideal level of density can help solve local problems locally. The plan also emphasizes that being close in both space and time reduces the effort needed for daily activities. Diversity includes mixing different types of buildings and supporting multicultural communities, which can improve city life and involve more people in planning. Digitalization is inspired by smart cities and uses technology like online shopping and virtual meetings to reduce the need for long commutes.

Recent studies have measured how well cities match the 15-minute city model. A 2024 study in Nature Cities compared thousands of cities worldwide and found unequal access to services. It suggested ways to improve fairness in access. A related article in Nature News explained that these findings show measurable differences and include a tool to compare cities visually.

In 2019, a project called Street Moves began in Sweden as part of a government initiative to test new ideas. Led by a group including ArkDes, Volvo Cars, and several Swedish cities, the project focused on the "1-minute city" concept, which looks at the area near a person’s home. This idea complements the 15-minute city by emphasizing local social, cultural, and political aspects. It builds on "chrono-urbanism" models by focusing on the immediate neighborhood.

Implementations

In 2019, Singapore's Land Transport Authority created a plan aiming to have "20-minute towns" and a "45-minute city" by 2040.

Israel has included the idea of a 15-minute city in new housing areas. Orli Ronen, who leads the Urban Innovation and Sustainability Lab at Tel Aviv University, said that Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheba, and central Jerusalem have made progress with this idea in new developments, but only Tel Aviv has been mostly successful.

Dubai started the 20-minute city project in 2022. This plan allows residents to reach daily needs and places within 20 minutes by walking or biking. The plan includes placing 55% of residents within 800 meters of public transportation stops, so they can access 80% of their daily needs and destinations.

In the Philippines' largest city, Quezon City announced in 2023 that it would use the 15-minute city concept to build a walkable, people-friendly, and sustainable community. Inspired by Paris, the city aims to make urban development focus on people and reach its goal of being carbon neutral by 2050.

Shanghai's 2016 Master Plan called for "15-minute community life circles," where residents could complete all daily activities within 15 minutes of walking. This idea has been used in other Chinese cities, such as Baoding and Guangzhou. Xiong'an is also being developed using the 15-minute life circle concept.

A national standard in China, called the Standard for urban residential area planning and design (GB 50180–2018), which started in 2018, sets four levels of residential areas: 15-minute pedestrian-scale neighborhood, 10-minute pedestrian-scale neighborhood, 5-minute pedestrian-scale neighborhood, and a neighborhood block. The 15-minute pedestrian-scale neighborhood means a residential area where people can meet their daily needs by walking for 15 minutes. These areas are usually surrounded by main roads or city boundaries and have 50,000 to 100,000 people (about 17,000 to 32,000 households) with complete supporting facilities.

To stop cities from spreading too far, Chengdu created the "Great City" plan. This plan ensures that development on the city's edges is dense enough to support all necessary services within a 15-minute walk.

In 2020, Paris's mayor, Anne Hidalgo, introduced the 15-minute city idea during her re-election campaign. She began working on it during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, school playgrounds were turned into parks after school hours, and areas like Place de la Bastille were redesigned with trees and bike lanes.

Cagliari, a city in Italy, started a plan to improve walkability and revitalize the city. The city asked the public for feedback through a process called the Moreno model. A special part of the plan involves reusing old public spaces and buildings, following the idea of making cities more intense and efficient.

In Utrecht, the Netherlands' fourth-largest city, all residents can reach all city needs in 15 minutes by bike, and 94% can do so in 10 minutes. The city plans to improve this further by 2040.

In 2023, the Sunak government in the United Kingdom announced plans to "protect drivers from over-zealous traffic enforcement," saying it was part of a long-term plan to support drivers. These plans included stopping local governments from creating "15-minute cities" by finding ways to prevent schemes that limit where people can drive.

The Polish city of Pleszew calls itself a 15-minute city.

Swedish cities like Stockholm, Umeå, Gothenburg, Helsingborg, Hultsfred, Härnösand, and Södertälje were part of the Street Moves project from 2019 to 2024. This project explored the idea of a "1-minute city," focusing on involving the public in city planning, within the larger 15-minute city idea. These cities and their plans are recorded by Vinnova and ArkDes.

Copenhagen's Nordhavn neighborhood was built using a five-minute city concept. This means that all daily needs are located within 400 meters of public transit stops, a distance that can be walked in 5 minutes.

In 2012, Portland, Oregon, created a plan for complete neighborhoods in the city. These neighborhoods support young people, provide affordable housing, and promote community-driven development and business in areas that have not been well served before. Similar to the Weng et al. model, the Portland plan focuses on walking and biking to improve health and highlights the importance of having affordable healthy food. The plan also calls for clear communication and community involvement during planning, similar to the diversity part of the Moreno et al. model.

In 2015, Kirkland, Washington, developed a "10-Minute Neighborhood Analysis" tool to help shape its 2035 Comprehensive Plan. This tool helps guide discussions about how the 10-Minute Neighborhood concept can improve living conditions and explore policy changes needed to achieve that goal.

Detroit, Michigan's "20-Minute Neighborhood" initiative was started in 2016. This program ensures that homes are within a 20-minute walk or bike ride of daily needs, such as parks, stores, open spaces, and public transportation. The plan's Blue Zones Performance goals include having parks, quality stores, open spaces, and transit options within 20 minutes of homes, and ensuring no old or broken buildings are within that same distance.

In March 2021, Bogotá, Colombia, added 84 kilometers of bike lanes to help with social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. This expansion built on the Ciclovía practice, which began in Colombia in 1974 and gives priority to bicycles on city streets. The result is the world's largest bicycle lane network.

The 15-minute city model can be seen in some urban areas through clear policies. In Santiago, Chile, a community called Providencia has access to basic needs like shops, services, public spaces, and transit within short walking or cycling distances. This convenience comes from mixed-use development, high density, and well

Benefits

The 15-minute city is a city planning idea that creates neighborhoods designed for people, with homes, jobs, and services connected by public transportation. This allows residents to meet most daily needs within a short walk or bike ride. It builds on older planning ideas and differs from traditional zoning, which separates homes from workplaces and services. This approach helps cities reach goals like sustainability, fairness, and better health by offering a plan that fits each city's needs. Benefits include stronger local businesses, stronger community connections, improved health, and fewer transportation emissions.

The 15-minute city focuses on walkability and access to services, which helps include groups often overlooked in planning, such as women, children, people with disabilities, people with mental health challenges, and older adults. It also emphasizes social infrastructure, such as schools, parks, and community activities, to support residents. Access to green spaces is a key part of this plan, which can help the environment by increasing biodiversity and protecting cities from harmful plants. Studies show that living near green spaces can improve mental and physical health by reducing stress, increasing happiness, improving sleep, and encouraging social connections. People near green areas also tend to exercise more, which helps their health.

The 15-minute city is now being widely recognized as a way to help fight climate change, especially by reducing transportation emissions. Transportation causes about one-fifth of global carbon dioxide emissions, with road travel responsible for three-quarters of those. Cars and buses account for about 45% of all transportation emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said that investing in city infrastructure, like walking paths and public transit, is one of the most effective ways to reduce these emissions.

Limitations

Scholars have noted several challenges with the 15-minute city idea. Pozoukidou and Chatziyiannaki say the concept may be hard to use in older cities where land use and infrastructure are already set. They also say it might not work well in less crowded areas, like suburbs, or for people with lower incomes who need to travel farther.

Examples of success include Chengdu, which used the idea to reduce city expansion, and Melbourne, where Mayor Sally Capp said good public transportation is key to making the 15-minute city work.

In a study published in Sustainability, Pozoukidou and Chatziyiannaki explained that while the 15-minute city supports sustainability and easy access to services, it might raise home prices and cause gentrification in busy, walkable areas. They warned that without rules to keep housing affordable, this could push lower-income people to live in less central areas, which goes against the goal of fairness.

When the idea is used as a research tool, it involves using isochrones, which are maps showing how far someone can go in a certain time. These maps depend on two factors: how fast people move and how much time is allowed. However, Boukouras said using average walking speeds might not work for everyone, like older adults, which could lead to errors in research.

In the United States, challenges include strict zoning laws, such as rules that only allow single-family homes, which limit high-density housing. Other issues include "NIMBYism" (when people oppose changes in their neighborhoods), parking rules, and concerns about school quality that make some families move to suburbs.

Many studies show that the 15-minute city idea works differently in various cities because of differences in social, economic, and physical conditions. It also needs strong planning and organization. Researchers say improving access to services might raise home prices, which could lead to gentrification and people being forced to move. Measuring whether cities meet the 15-minute city standards is also difficult.

In 2023, some people started spreading false ideas about the 15-minute city, claiming it was a tool for government control. These claims are linked to other false beliefs, like those about QAnon or anti-vaccine groups. Supporters of the idea, like Carlos Moreno, have even received threats.

Some false claims mix the 15-minute city with a British plan that uses license plate scanners, leading to rumors that the model would fine people for leaving their neighborhoods or trap them in "open-air prisons." Others say the World Economic Forum (WEF) wants to restrict freedom under the guise of climate change. These ideas are part of larger false beliefs about a "Great Reset."

In 2023, about 2,000 people in Oxford protested, calling the 15-minute city a "ghetto" and a tool of "tyrannical control" by the WEF. A Canadian commentator, Jordan Peterson, called the idea a "perversion." Supporters of QAnon claimed a train accident in Ohio and wildfires in Maui were part of a plan to force people into 15-minute cities.

In 2023, the British Conservative government criticized the idea. A member of Parliament called it an "international socialist concept," which caused laughter. At a political meeting, a leader said the idea was "sinister" and claimed it would control how often people shop or use roads. However, no such rules are part of the 15-minute city idea in the UK. Despite being corrected in 2024, a government official repeated the false claim in a campaign and on TV.

People who spread these false ideas have been accused of weakening trust in government and harming public confidence.