Barcelona’s Urban Mobility Plan aims to reduce space occupied by cars to favour the area used by pedestrians, introduce a series of bike lanes and an orthogonal network of express bus lanes. Photo — Ajuntament de Barcelona
15-Minute City
Decomposing the New Urban Planning EutopiaThe present paper attempts to assess whether and how contemporary city strategies that contain the notion of 15- or 20-min city fit thelegacies of different cities as described by traditional planning principles like urban density, transportation infrastructure and social differentiation. For this purpose, the paper performs an assessment of three planning strategies that have adopted this new model of city vision. In particular the planning strategies of Portland (Oregon, USA), Paris (France) and Melbourne (Australia)* were used to perform a) an analysis of the concepts of the 15-min city using familiar urban planning principles and b) an assessment of how three contrasting plans deal with the issues the 15-min city aims to improve. Particular emphasis is given to the elements of inclusiveness and localization of urban functions that seem to redefine the typical concept of the neighborhood.
* The section on Melbourne was shortened by dérive due to lack of space
Pozoukidou Georgia is an Assistant Professor of City Planning, Faculty of Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Zoi Chatziyiannaki is an argiculture engineer and landscape architect.