15 minute cities: can they shape a greener, healthier future for urban living?

Imagine a city where all your daily essentials – schools, parks, shops – are just a short walk or bike ride away. No more long commutes, no more congestion. This is the vision of the 15 minute city, an innovative approach to sustainable living that promises cleaner air, better health, and a thriving local economy.

The idea behind a 15 minute city, or 15 minute neighbourhood, is relatively simple – it’s all about ‘living locally’. It’s a concept where all the amenities needed by a typical household are within a short walk or bike ride, creating a low traffic neighbourhood. 

For many, rush hour commutes, packed trains and congested roads are just part and parcel of living in a big city. A ‘15 minute city’ could change all that. 

By rethinking how we design urban spaces, 15-minute cities offer increased accessibility for residents, improve people’s health and wellbeing, grow the local economy, reduce congestion, and cut unnecessary car usage; ultimately creating a cleaner and more sustainable environment.

Already in action in cities like Paris and Barcelona, this model could transform urban life across the UK and the world.

How could 15 minute cities help us live greener?1

1. Less reliance on cars
Alongside the obvious benefits of reducing car use, such as fuel savings, reduced car maintenance, and a lower traffic accident risk, swapping out the car to walk or cycle within a 15 minute radiushas huge environmental benefits

Domestic transport accounts for more than 26% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions. By ditching the car for those shorter journeys we’re not only becoming more active and travelling in a safer environment, we’re also significantly helping to reduce emissions.

In the longer term, that means not just less traffic on the roads, it might also mean reduced car ownership for households. Larger families in urban areas might switch from two cars to one shared vehicle, or even decide that a car is no longer needed for them, creating more free green space on areas once used as street parking and car parks. 

Although the concept behind a 15 minute city advocates a no-car policy, there’s obviously still times when getting out and about by car may be the only practical option. In these cases, driving a fully electric (EV) or hybrid car is a great alternative. By increasing the use of EVs and smart EV charging within these areas, we’re able to cut emissions, improve air quality and reduce noise pollution, causing far less environmental damage than your standard petrol or diesel vehicle.

2. Cleaner air, healthier lives

In the UK, air pollution is one of the greatest environmental risks to public health; affecting our health, reducing life expectancy and costing the NHS and our society billions of pounds each year.

Smog and air pollution can bring a whole host of negative side effects, from respiratory conditions, asthma and circulation problems – bad news for those living in the most densely polluted cities. In fact, human-made air pollution is said to be responsible for between 29,000 and 43,000 deaths every year.

A 15 minute city offers a powerful solution: reducing car use and encouraging EV adoption. Since EVs produce no exhaust emissions, they significantly reduce the pollutants that contribute to smog and related health issues. And if you’re charging your car at home using renewable energy sources — like a solar setup or renewables-backed electricity — you’re helping minimise the environmental impact even further.

3. Bringing green space back

How cities look and feel could be transformed within a 15 minute city, leaving behind the ‘concrete jungle’ and creating entirely new green spaces.

Areas previously used as car parks could be repurposed as green spaces for residents to exercise, socialise and bring the local community together in a natural and healthier environment.

With more trees, plants and fewer cars on the road, rewilding city spaces also improves biodiversity and invites new wildlife into urban areas, creating a desirable habitat for birds, insects, and other animals.

4. Reducing city temperatures

For those travelling from more rural areas into city centres, you’ll often be met with a sudden rise in temperature.

This is due to the urban heat island effect, which is caused by human activities. The lack of bare earth and vegetation within urban areas is the main cause of this, where heat is stored by buildings and in the ground within its own urban micro-climate. One option is planting trees in city streets which can reduce ambient street temperatures.

Utilising wasted areas as new green space within the centre of these cities would help ease the effects of the urban heat island, cooling temperatures in the hotter months and minimising some of the effects of climate change. 

How 15 minute cities could shape our future

By 2050, it’s predicted we’ll have 47 megacities (cities with more than 10 million people) and 68% of the world’s population living in cities.

Now is the time to prepare our cities not only to manage these population increases but to tackle the environmental challenges that come with them.

The 15 minute city approach offers a blueprint for building more resilient communities by transforming how we live, work, and socialise. It could be a key step toward a cleaner, greener, and healthier urban life.