Supermarkets, daycare centers, general practitioners and many other important places in everyday life have conveniently in the immediate vicinity-that is the vision of the 15-minute city. The concept promises: All important goals of everyday life should be accessible on foot or by bike in a maximum of 15 minutes. But how far is Germany on the way there? And which cities implement the concept particularly successfully?
The concept of the 15-minute city comes from the French city planner Carlos Moreno. It describes a city in which everyday life, work, purchasing and leisure are close together. The goal: From your own front door, all important goals of everyday life should be accessible on foot or by bike in a maximum of 15 minutes. Such functionally mixed districts with short paths should increase the quality of life, reduce traffic and promote sustainable mobility. But how widespread are 15-minute cities in Germany?
How far is Germany?
Researchers around Björn Schwarze from the Dortmund consulting company S&W City and regional research have now carried out the first comprehensive inventory of the 15-minute city in Germany. To do this, they systematically examined all German municipalities and recorded 24 typical facilities of everyday life – from supermarkets and daycare centers to medical practices and schools to playgrounds, green spaces, restaurants and stops of local transport.
The average walking speed of an adult served as a yardstick for the accessibility. In addition, a special index also took into account the walking speeds of older people and children. For less frequent goals such as swimming pools, libraries or specialists, which can usually only be found at a few locations, the researchers calculated the accessibility by bike. This gave rise to a detailed picture of how well the everyday goals in German cities and municipalities can actually be reached.
Short distances are further widespread than expected
The surprising result: The 15-minute city is widespread in Germany than previously assumed, as Blacks and his colleagues report. On average, people in Germany reach around three quarters of the most important facilities in everyday life within 15 minutes on foot or by bike. Particularly impressive: In the top rated cities, these goals are often only six to eight minutes away. This is the case in Frankfurt am Main, Mannheim, Munich or Karlsruhe.
But not only big cities could score in the evaluation. Many small and medium -sized cities already offer compact structures that enable short distances. “It is a mistake that short distances are only possible in large or hip districts,” emphasizes Brigitte Adam from the Federal Institute for Urban and Spatial Research, which was also involved in the study. “Our data show that functionally mixed quarters with short distances are also possible in large housing estates or garden cities.” The researchers recommend that the cities that want to achieve a quarter-hour infrastructure have yet to achieve wider sidewalks and secure bike paths. This promotes non-motorized traffic and creates incentives for shops, restaurants and the like to settle in the district. In order to increase the acceptance of the measures, planners should also involve citizens at an early stage and find solutions together with them.
Source: Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Spatial Research (BBSR); Specialist articles: BBSR online publication, DOI: 10.58007/8m7Z-QR40
