Global Study Ranks '15-Minute Cities': Australia Falls Behind

The "15-minute city" holds a certain mystique among urban planners and city dwellers the world over: a utopia where everything you need is within walking distance, biking distance, or even close enough to reach via public transportation. According to a new study from Sony Computer Science Laboratories, however, Australian cities are tracking behind the global ideal in line with stark urban accessibility juxtapositions.

The 15-minute city has been the most talked-about urbanist idea in the last five years. An integrated, holistic design of cities-in which workspace, shopping, schools, healthcare, and parks-will be available in less than a 15-minute commute-to either walk, bike, or use public transport-reduce sprawl, improve the quality of life, and cut down emissions.

A new study published in Nature Cities ranks more than 10,000 cities around the world on how well they live up to this ideal. Geneva, Paris, and Berlin top this ranking, with excellent access to essential services concentrated in their city cores. The recurring pattern brought forth by the interactive map of this study is that inner cities generally have better access to services compared to sprawling suburban areas.

Australian Cities Lagging Behind

While no Australian city made the target list, Hobart was closest, at 16 minutes, just shy of the target. Other cities, such as Melbourne and Canberra, were a minute longer on average, taking 17 minutes. The further north and west you go, though, the worse it gets: Brisbane weighed in at 25 minutes, making it the least accessible major city in Australia according to the study.

Australian Cities' Average Times:
- Hobart: 16 minutes
- Melbourne: 17 minutes
- Canberra: 17 minutes
- Sydney: 19 minutes
- Adelaide: 19 minutes
- Darwin: 22 minutes
- Perth: 24 minutes
- Brisbane: 25 minutes

According to Dr. Alan Both from the Australian Urban Observatory, this mediocre performance by Australia is partly because Australian cities are sprawling compared to their more compact and dense European counterparts. "We have cities with sprawling suburbs on the outside, and we don't have the density of people there," he said.

The key contributors towards the success of a city being a 15-minute city in all aspects include population density, availability of frequent public transport, and proximity to essential services. Many cities in Australia have sprawling designs in which residents in the outer suburbs often wait longer for less frequently available public transport, and as such, most people in these cities use cars. This often takes years to catch up in new subdivisions, he says, making it one of the last infrastructure elements to be implemented.

"Australians on paper are doing well in public transport access-it is about 500 meters on average to get to a transit stop. When you start to factor in frequency and reliability, it isn't quite so rosy," he added.

How Can Australian Cities Approach the 15-Minute Ideal More Closely? Cities like Paris and Barcelona have thus been ranked among the best in this study. Their policies have greatly reduced the gap between the town center and other peripheral neighborhoods. As Australian cities go about implementing the right policies to achieve this goal, experts predict that it will be multilaterally approached:

Targeted Transport Development: Orient the development toward routes with higher populations and ensure frequency that is enough to make it a valid alternative to driving. "That's where we'd see the most uptake in its usage," Dr. Both said.

Improved Services in Outer Suburbs: Better access in the outer areas of more frequent buses and trains could result in less car reliance and, consequently, a preference for public transport.

Changing Policies: The adoption of policies by cities that favour locals in accessing key services inspires European models where urban planning promotes a balance in the distribution of amenities.

Moving Away from the Car-Dominated City

But the drive for the 15-minute city is really a subset of a deeper, universal urge to re-pattern how we'll be living our lives in cities. As cities continue to grow, making accessible policies and planning creates spaces that are more sustainable, livable, and equitable.

While Australian cities are not exactly in the forefront, there is quite apparently enormous room for improvement. In this case, rethinking urban design to put more priorities on public transport and investment in accessible infrastructure could help Australia, which has been lagging, catch up with the dream of the 15-minute city-to turn sprawling suburbs into vibrant, connected communities.