15-Minute City Concept Overview and Transferability

Abstract

The 15-minute city is a concept that first emerged in response to dispersed urban development, where increasingly long car trips between daily activities such as living, working, recreation and shopping are considered acceptable. The concept builds on the idea that people who spend less time on daily journeys will live better and use less energy. Most elements of the concept have been present in the theory of urban planning for almost a century now and stem from the need for efficient organization of residents considering limited time and opportunities for daily travel.
The concept of 15-minute city returned in focus during the COVID-19 crisis and lockdowns, when countries and cities introduced measures to restrict movement of residents close to their homes. In this specific situation some cities recognized the need and opportunity of the situation to rethink the design of urban areas with a clear goal of ensuring better local accessibility.
The paper presents an analysis of key initiatives that emerged in last two years as a part of the concept. It compares the approaches, their key elements and implementation. Based on this, the paper proposes how elements of the concept could be transferred and integrated into current planning practice in Slovenia.