What's it like to live in a 15 minute city?

During the last two years our way of life has changed due to Covid 19.?More of us than ever worked from home and our local communities became the centre of our worlds. We shopped local, used local parks & eat out in our local bars and restaurants. During this time, I was grateful to have lived in an area of Dublin which had the option of the above within a 15-minute walk/cycle from home.?

It’s only been 10 weeks since we moved to Amsterdam however its evident there is certainly a lot more that we can be doing so that whether we are creating homes on existing brownfield sites or developing new urban towns and villages at scale, we create spaces that are more amenable to residents and those living in those neighbourhoods become less car dependent.

So what are the main differences?

Less cars

Its noticeable how many less cars there are on the roads.?The city has been designed so that the car is the last mode of transport used and my experience of the hierarchy of transport here s more like:

1.?????Walking

2.? Cycling

3.?????Tram/metro/Bus

4.?????Regional/International Trains

5.?????Cars

Having cars as the least preferred of transport frees up space for other modes. Most cycle lanes are separated out from the roads and where cars and bikes share the road the speed limit is set at a maximum of 30km per Hour.?Living within a higher density city also means you can pretty much walk or cycle within 15 minutes of most amenities such as shops, bars, restaurants, cinema’s, parks and Gyms.

The transport network here is so good, I don’t miss having a car and have thought about how we can get rid of it when we go home. Their are still barriers to doing this such as the lack of reliable public transport and existing car sharing schemes don’t have a big enough network or reach.

Every building is either utilised or Multipurpose

Living in the canal belt I have yet to see a derelict building or a vacant site and there’s certainly no need for a register to record them. In the area we chose to live in during our time here known as the Deplantage old warehouse buildings or vacant shops have been repurposed into residential accommodation and there seems to be more flexibility around building guidelines for existing buildings particularly when it comes to circulation space.? I’ve seen so many stairs here that would not achieve compliance back home.

They are also not afraid to repurpose buildings. On the way out of the city there’s also former prison being redeveloped into a residential development.?Perhaps its time to reconsider moving Mountjoy out of Dublin?

? Penitentiaire Inrichting Over-Amstel, proposed redevelopment

Even schools are multipurpose, their playgrounds become play spaces for residents outside of school hours and the classrooms and gym halls are used in the evening time for sports or adult classes.

The density of the city also helps to support the concept of a 15 min city and where new neighbourhoods are popping up they have tried to replicate the grid structure of the old city where the density is high and the car is the least preferred mode of transport.

The quality & design of the Urban landscaping

Over the years working on various projects particularly in the social housing sector we often focus on trying to design out anti-social behaviour in communal open spaces rather than focus on quality spaces all members of the community will want to use.?

On a sunny day in Amsterdam everyone sits outside, and it can be spaces like terraces in bars and restaurants to sitting along canals catching up with Friends. Most streets have been been designed as green streets with plants trees and spaces to sit. Each community has its own local playgrounds and parks and they are well maintained. The larger parks also contain sport and recreation facilities such as football pitches and basketball courts.

There are benches & bins everywhere in the city and they haven’t been designed to stop loitering.?It shows how important it is to create these quality communal spaces particularly as we move towards higher densities within towns and cities.?It also allows people to stay within their community.??As part of the 15-minute city having high quality public amenity space is important to having people remain within their community and enjoy being there.

Whilst the concept of a 15 min neighbourhood is a relatively new. Ireland will have to give consideration how this can be implemented further within our towns and cities especially as we commit to reducing our carbon emissions over the next few years. It is certainly achievable but its not just changing our physical environment there also needs to be a shift in our society as well.

The above are some of my lived examples but if you feel there are other actions Ireland could be implementing to create 15 minute towns and cities leave your suggestions in the comment section of the post.