The New Localism & the 15-minute City

How does it work and how do we retrofit into the existing urban landscape?

What is it?

The advent of Covid-Lockdown(s) has forced people to use their neighbourhoods for a multitude of reasons – not least because travel had been reduced to essential trips only. Since shops have reopened, people have continued to support their local businesses demonstrating a renewed sense of community. This need for improved localism however, has been on the agenda prior to the 2020 pandemic.

It is with the intention of building sustainable communities, centred around intensified placemaking that has led an increasing number of urban planners and authorities to use the concept of the 15-minute city1.

The 15-minute city is a concept that defines cities by its neighbourhoods or districts. Instead of centralising provisions in city centres or central business districts, services and facilities are dotted around a city according to where people live. The idea not only reduces carbon dependency, increases community provision and makes places healthier it can also improve vibrancy, access to goods, culture and entertainment. Residents are able to obtain most of what they need to both live and work within a short trip from their home, ideally without the reliance on cars.

From that approach, the concept is now more widely understood as the need for localism. This wider understanding explains why the concept has been adopted with speed by many authorities across the globe, most notably in 2020 in Paris and Melbourne, as it also encapsulates two central ‘tipping point’ agendas; promoting well-being and sustainability.

These agendas have been evolving for a number of years, and what appears to be emerging is a combination of ideas: the idea of localism, and the idea of sustainable cities. It is the combined idea that grabs attention, and has taken the 15-minute city to becoming a major proposition across the world.

Far from being a new phenomenon however, it is in fact a return to an ancient and organic way of urban life, where people live, work, play, thrive and survive all within convenient proximity. Some of the world’s most resilient and successful cities have evolved by defining themselves as comprising a series of linked communities, with both New York and London using the highly recognisable description as metropolises made up of intertwined villages. Moving forward we will see the concept embed itself into the urban planning of many much smaller places.

The Melbourne definition (figure 9), illustrates that the concept of localism will create different outcomes in response to different local needs. But one ingredient remains central and critical to the overall understanding of a 15-minute neighbourhood. That is the requirement for people to be placed first in the hierarchy of needs.

This translates into three distinct outcomes; first, neighbourhoods are about quality and lifestyle; second, they operate at a human scale; and third, in a rapidly evolving society this build resilient and sustainable local economies, which is far better for those invested in them.

Northstowe, Cambridgeshire

Where is it happening?

From Berlin to Bergota, Stockholm to San Francisco and Melbourne to Mexico City, there are an increasing number of illustrations from around the world that evoke ideas on how individual cities might adapt to meet local needs and values.

In the UK it is starting to happen in different ways, such as with LandSec’s community projects, Muse’s market place developments, or Capital & Regional’s healthcare provision within its shopping centres. In each case, landlords are looking at the wider place to look at how they can adapt their spaces to fulfil wider needs of the community.

However, the concept is important at all levels, whether through city wide policy, or urban regeneration or development masterplans. We’ve worked on a number of new community developments and major urban extensions, such as Barking Riverside, Northstowe or SW Rugby SUE, that seek to implement components of these core themes as part of a sustainable placemaking strategy.

In some schemes, such as U+I’s Mayfield development in Manchester, it is not just about creating a 15-minute concept within the development itself, but connecting and embedding the development within the existing neighbouring communities through employment, social and civic opportunities.

For new developments the idea of bringing people together from different interest groups: parks and recreation, infrastructure, housing, education, health and commerce can be at the heart of the masterplanning process, blending different uses to capitalise on synonymous uses and consumer movements. But how do we repair the existing built environment?

Retrofitting the 15-minute concept

The concept of the 15-minute city is in direct contrast to the urban planning paradigms that have dominated for the last century, where residential areas are separated from business, retail, industry and entertainment. Real places don’t work like this and this siloed approach is becoming strained.

There is plenty of evidence that people are most loyal to the places that they enjoy, but if they only sleep or work in a particular place there is no particular allegiance or relationship with the built or civic communities in which they live. The Covid situation has demonstrated the societal benefits of bringing people and property uses back together.

The need now is to move away from urban island environments that lack diversity of use or place. People are encouraged to increase time spent in their communities, but still reach out to other communities and workers in order to collaborate, create and curate ideas.

Of course, it’s easier said than done. Over the last 50 years we have built an infrastructure around car usage, yet it is acknowledged that we will need to rethink how we operate, not least to meet the challenging CO2 emission targets.

We all need to look at what people need now and in the future. Planning measures need to encourage the flexible use of buildings and public space. Employers need to facilitate remote working. Town centre stakeholders need to promote neighbourhood co-working spaces, invest in social, civic, service, health, wellbeing and public realm; to help foster the more local, healthy and sustainable way of life that many of their citizens are calling for.

This may well take some strong, proactive and persuasive leadership. In Paris, the mayor has installed the Semaest, a semi-public agency whose role is to reinforce active ground floors and to revitalise neighbourhoods. For example, the agency has a ‘pre-emptive’ right to buy ground-floor space to repurpose for retail or commerce.

Sustainable repurposing has to be at the heart of the 15-minute neighbourhood and the vast structural changes occurring in retail are not just a huge challenge, but provide an opportunity should we choose to adapt them into something more useful.

The idea isn’t just about creating mixed use schemes, it’s about creating mixed use, hybrid places. Adapting places within these principals will build resilience and community. There is evidence too, that connecting people with goods, services, community and infrastructure has a positive impact on property values.

Rethinking retail places within the lens of the 15-minute neighbourhood by no means spells the end of retail places altogether, but it may spell the end of retail places as we know them.