No Australian cities made the cut for a new list of the top 15-minute cities, so maybe we aren’t as liveable as we like to think.
A new study has crunched the numbers on which cities across the world could be considered “15-minute cities” — an urban planning concept designed to minimise emissions and improve quality of life.
A 15-minute city is a city in which you can get to all of the essentials — work, shops, parks, schools, healthcare and leisure activities — within a 15-minute walk, public transport or bike trip. Basically, it means you can live a comfortable life without the need for a car.
But while 15-minute cities sound great in theory, the concept has also been heavily criticised.
Criticism ranges from the belief that 15-minute cities may create more insular, segregated societies in which you do not socialise outside of your pocket of the city, to full-blown conspiracy theories about the government wanting to control our movements.
But regardless of your thoughts on the concept, the study inarguably provides some interesting insight into living in these cities.
Sadly for Aussies, none of our cities have made the cut according to a new study by Nature Cities.
The research team at Sony Computer Science Laboratories examined 10,000 cities from all around the world to see how they stacked up against the 15-minute criteria.
While no Aussie cities actually matched the criteria, you may be surprised at which cities ranked the highest.
Hobart came in at 16-minutes — the best in Australia — while Brisbane ranked the worst out of the capital cities at 25.
- Hobart — 16 minutes
- Melbourne — 17 minutes
- Canberra — 17 minutes
- Sydney — 19 minutes
- Adelaide — 19 minutes
- Darwin — 22 minutes
- Perth — 24 minutes
- Brisbane — 25 minutes
Australia ranked well based on proximity to public transport, with most Aussies living within 500m of a stop. However, just because you’re close to public transport doesn’t necessarily mean you’re close to frequent transport.
“The average person is about 500m from public transport locations, on paper we’re doing quite well, but if they restrict the measure to frequent transport then we’re doing quite poorly,” Dr Alan Both from the Australian Urban Observatory told 7NEWS.com.au.
In a surprise to absolutely nobody, inner city areas have better access to services than those in the suburbs.
“Our analysis consistently highlights patterns where city centres have better access to services than peripheral areas,” the study said.
The full, interactive map of cities can be explored here.
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