As cities become more densely populated, urban planning has traditionally focused more on improving transit infrastructure to move as many vehicles as possible, helping citizens get from home to work, the grocery store, local coffee shop, health center or nearest park. With so much time spent driving in vehicles, cities are facing growing air and noise pollution, while humans are facing social isolation and numerous health impacts from sitting in a car.
Enter the concept of a 15-minute neighborhood, which brings amenities to people rather than relying on transit to bring people to amenities. This approach aims to improve quality of life by creating neighborhoods where everything a resident needs can be accessed within 15 minutes, whether it be green space, retail and grocery stores, medical offices or everything in between.
Program on the Environment student Nick Tritt presented on this concept for his Capstone project, supplementing research with an internship with pedestrian and cyclist advocacy group Seattle Neighborhood Greenways. As a resident of downtown Seattle, Tritt lives in an area with a walk score of 99 – just about as walkable as an area could be. “I walk everywhere and I pretty much live a car-free life. Without realizing it, I have always sought out neighborhoods that are walkable so this internship was number one on my list,” says Tritt.
Starting research when the pandemic began, Tritt combed through peer-reviewed sources including academic papers, and pedestrian and walking journals. All the resources broke down the concept of a 15-minute neighborhood into two research categories: transportation sites (U.S., local and regional) and city plans.
This effort to make neighborhoods more pedestrian-focused was named and popularized as the “15-minute city” by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. Although the term is fairly new, cities have been rethinking the way neighborhoods are structured to accommodate for walking and biking rather than for cars and other motorized vehicles. Some cities are already acting on this concept. Barcelona has “super blocks”, which modified the existing city plan with limited room for cars and parking. The city used the existing infrastructure and turned the super blocks into a grid system, each with its own neighborhood complete with courtyards, green spaces and gathering spaces. Singapore and Melbourne also adopted the concept and have a 20-minute neighborhood with city planning centered around pedestrians. More locally, we look to Portland, Oregon as an example of a 20-minute neighborhood that has proven to be successful.
“When looking into what people need, we need to look at their shopping habits and consumer habits,” said Tritt. “That drives a lot of traffic – especially grocery shopping. Grocery stores are a great indicator of walkability because grocery shopping is a big part of what people do.”
What about areas that might not be as densely populated, like suburbs or rural areas?
One idea is cul-de-sac suburbs, where transit hubs bring people from one hub to another hub where there are services. People will drive to something like a park and ride, and take public transportation into a walkable area or another hub. Another option is to utilize existing spaces for pop-up shops or food trucks, bringing markets to suburban areas in parking lots or mobile businesses to introduce walkability to suburbs. These ideas then spur new thinking about different ways to utilize other spaces: can we use school parking lots on the weekends, where they sit empty for two days of the week? What about church parking lots? “Remixing” pre existing spaces may be a way to bring markets to neighborhoods and increase walkability.
Stay Healthy Streets is an initiative that was introduced as a result of COVID-19, where closed off residential streets allow for a safe way to get outside and walk to essential services, support small businesses and get some exercise while maintaining social distancing. These streets still allow for people living in the area, waste pickup and deliveries to still continue driving on the roads.
According to the City of Seattle, the response to the Stay Healthy Streets program has been generally positive: “Observations indicate people of all ages are using the Stay Healthy Streets and travelers are following #KeepItMoving guidelines. About 10 to 40 people per mile are walking and biking in the streets depending on the location. The Keep Moving Streets near destination waterfront parks have seen the most use compared to locations along neighborhood greenways. People walking have room to spread out on both sidewalks and the street, while most people running or biking are using the street. We’ve also seen an increase in parents using the streets with their kids on bikes, scooters and big wheels along with lots of chalk drawings.”
Continuing to build upon the habits people have started forming due to the pandemic like walking more, driving less, staying more local for their needs, and supporting local businesses has been a great primer to encourage people to rely less on transportation and instead walk or bike to run errands. Plus, with stay-at-home orders limiting the amount of traveling people are doing, many are turning to local parks and outdoor areas to get that dose of nature.
“I feel like a lot of people look for walkable areas on vacation because they don’t have their usual means of transportation. If people can experience walkability at home, I think that most people would enjoy it. Walking around is a part of sightseeing as well – it makes walkability interesting in addition to functional because it brings some character and nature in,” says Tritt.