The 15-Minute City: Land-Use Policy Impacts

Dear Colleagues,

The 15-minute city is a model of the modern city based on proximity, where the essential functions of living, working, commerce, medical care, education, and leisure can be accomplished in 15 minutes by walking or biking. It became increasingly popular since the COVID-19 pandemic, as lockdowns highlighted the importance of having essential needs close to home, while making walkable or bikeable access more appealing.

Within this framework, this Special Issue (SI) aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the principles, approaches, and methods underlying the main theories at the core of the proximity city, together with case studies relating to the most important experiences around the world. In this sense, this SI welcomes studies that analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of theories and applications of the 15-minute city model. Several research issues should be discussed about land use, transport, and society within the most complex demographic, ecological, digital, and energy transition.

As a matter of fact, the 15-minute city favors the reuse of existing buildings even before land consumption, thus pursuing the principles of urban density and multifunctionality, which encourage forms of sustainable mobility, in contrast to the growing use of private cars for daily life. The reduction in vehicular traffic contributes to improving air quality, encouraging healthier lifestyles, and reducing the effect of urban overheating (heat islands).

At the same time, this SI aims to focus attention on studies that evaluate the social sustainability of the 15-minute city model, in light of the phenomena of gentrification, overtourism, and, above all, the aging of the population, in the European context and beyond.

Within this framework, we welcome studies that investigate the following research questions:

What policies should be implemented to promote the 15-minute city? What contributions can urban and transport planning make? How can the digital and energy transition contribute to improving the 15-minute city and spatial accessibility through the virtual dimension? What environmental, economic, and social benefits emerge from ongoing experiences? What are the negative externalities and impacts?

Dr. Mara Ladu
Prof. Dr. Ginevra Balletto
Dr. Giuseppe Borruso
Guest Editors

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• 15-minute city model
• land use
• transport planning
• demographic transition