Osaka, Berlin, Athens, Montreal, Barcelona, and Rosario are just a few of the cities worldwide where citizens can walk to basic services in less than fifteen minutes. According to a study published by Nature Cities, the concept of a “15-minute city” has been realised in various municipalities across Europe and, with less success, in America and Asia.

According to the scientific magazine’s analysis, Germany has the highest number of cities with these characteristics, which provide its inhabitants with a better quality of life and generate a positive impact on the environment.

The 15-minute city concept comes from urban planner Carlos Moreno, who prioritises people and their daily needs over car use. The goal of these urban areas is that all residents can reach essential services in less than fifteen minutes, either on foot or by bicycle. Promoting the use of this type of transportation over cars creates healthier environments, according to the study. In addition, these cities also ensure that residents are within the same time frame from green spaces, parks, or natural surroundings.

You can use the following tool to see how close the city you live in is to the 15-minute city concept. The tool is freely accessible and uses data from 10,000 cities sourced from the open-source packages GeoPandas and OpenStreetMap.

How are 15-minute cities evaluated?

To evaluate these cities, the study considers nine categories of basic services: provisioning, outdoor activities, mobility, learning, dining, physical exercise, cultural activities, basic services, and healthcare.

Spain also has several cities that meet these requirements. Among the larger cities, Barcelona and Valencia stand out, while in the Madrid region, the municipality of Majadahonda is also considered a 15-minute city. Málaga, Bilbao, and A Coruña are other cities that make the list.

Globally, Europe excels in short-distance travel within cities, with smaller urban areas like Geneva or Prague and major capitals and cities like Paris, Milan, Oslo, Dublin, Athens, and Helsinki. Europe also dominates in smart city innovation, leveraging technology to address urbanisation challenges. According to the 2024 Smart City Index, seven European cities rank among the top ten worldwide.

North American and South American cities aren’t walkable

In contrast, Africa and Asia fall short in providing short distances to essential services, while North America and South America both have very few 15-minute cities. Countries such as Colombia, the United States, and India lack cities with these characteristics. In many cases, citizens must walk or bike for more than half an hour to reach an essential service.

Montreal (Canada) and Rosario (Argentina) stand out in the American continent as 15-minute cities. In the Far East, Japan leads with the most cities of this type, such as Osaka and Kyoto. According to the list, many cities fell short of achieving 15-minute city status, such as Mumbai, São Paulo, and Copenhagen. On the other hand, the cities that need to make the most effort to become more urban-friendly are U.S. cities like Atlanta, Boston, and Detroit.