Exploring the 15-Minute City concept for the urban outskirts: a systematic literature review

+🚨 New publication from the DREAMS Project team!

✨ Review: Exploring the 15-Minute City Beyond the Urban Core ✨

We’re excited to share our latest paper, “Exploring the 15-minute city concept for urban outskirts: a systematic literature review,” now published in the European Transport Research Review.

The 15-Minute City (15mC) has become a central idea in sustainable urban planning, promoting access to essential services within walking and cycling distance to create more liveable, vibrant neighbourhoods. However, most research so far has focused on central urban areas, where proximity is already high.

This paper takes a broader look — examining how the 15mC concept can be adapted to the urban outskirts, where car dependence is typically stronger and accessibility challenges more complex.

🔎 Highlights:
➡️ Systematically review and synthesise insights from 87 academic studies on the 15-Minute City.
➡️ Identify the three core spatial elements of proximity: density, diversity, and design.
➡️ Reveal three underexplored enablers crucial for extending the concept to suburban areas:
 • individual characteristics and needs
 • digitalisation
 • adapted governance and business models
➡️ Highlight gaps and actionable pathways for planners and policymakers to make proximity-based planning effective beyond city centres.

🌐 Read the full open-access publication: https://rdcu.be/eLzQS

#DREAMSProject #15MinuteCity #UrbanPlanning #SustainableMobility #ResilientCities #Accessibility #Research