Walkability defined neighborhoods for sustainable cities

• Published in: Cities 2024-06, Vol.149, p.104944, Article 104944
• Main Authors: Aparicio, Joao Tiago, Arsenio, Elisabete, Santos, Francisco C., Henriques, Rui
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 15-min city; Community finding; Open data; Pedestrian planning; Walkability
• ISSN: 0264-2751; 1873-6084
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2024.104944

The concept of 15-min cities has recently received a lot of attention in recent research. However, the clear definition of a measurement for this concept has not yet been done at a neighborhood and city level across all continents and encompassing topological constraints. Yielding the question if 15 min is even the right indicator. In this study, we propose a method for determining how closely a city adheres to this concept using Open Data. We also propose an optimized method for generating communities that will assist us in discriminating walkability needs and validating generated communities. We discover that the number of communities meeting the 15-min target is inversely related to population growth and city area. •Assessment of how worldwide cities closely adhere to the 15-min city.•A generalization of this measurement to any time-distance constraint is formalized.•Network communities discriminate walkability needs at a neighborhood level.•The number of communities meeting the 15-min target is inversely related to population growth and city area.