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Few cities in the world could be classified as a 15-minute city, according to new international research.
A 15-minute city is often described as providing equitable access to essential services and key amenities to people within that time period by public transport.
The study published in Nature Cities analysed about 10,000 places around the world to measure how close they were to becoming 15-minute cities, using a new online tool.
It found that in many cities, such as Melbourne, Auckland, Tokyo and Rome, there were consistent patterns that saw areas in the city centre, and inner-city had better access to those living on the fringes of the city.
"However, notable exceptions exist, such as Paris or Barcelona, whose recent policies on increasing local access to services are well known. These cities exhibit a more evenly distributed accessibility, transcending the typical centre–periphery divide," the report said.
The report also found that cities that are the closest to becoming 15-minute cities were in Europe in contrast to Australia.
A story of two different cities
University of Melbourne Associate Professor of Urban Planning, Crystal Legacy said people experienced Australian cities differently depending on their proximity to the CBD.
"We've got kind of a story of two different cities. We've got capital cities that are public transport rich and with higher densities in the core and inner neighbourhoods," she said.
"But as we go at the middle and outer suburbs … We're seeing lower densities. We're seeing infrequent public transport being served."
The darker colours on the graph indicate a lack of public transport, compared to the lighter colours which represent better access. (Credit: Matteo Bruno and Hygor Melo)
Dr Legacy said those living in outer suburban areas were more likely to be car-dependent because of the lack of public transport, and other essential services.
"Although we've had policies in place for about 30 years related to 15-minute cities … but I think we have failed to deliver that, particularly in the areas that are underserved by high quality public transport.
"So in other words, we still have very car dependent Australian cities."
Loading...Dr Alan Both from the Australian Urban Observatory said cities in Australia were lagging behind other big capitals in Europe when it came to making cities more accessible but that there were other factors at play.
"If you think of something like the European cities, they tend to be more compact for various reasons, mostly because they were built before the invention of the motor car," he said.
"Whereas a lot of the sort of suburban expansion that's happened in the Australian cities has been post-car."
What can Australian cities do better?
One of the areas cities in Australia can improve, according to Dr Legacy, is to better plan our suburbs before building new housing estates.
"We built suburbs without public transport. You might see the lonely, old bus stop … like you see in Western Sydney and other parts of Australia," she said.
"We see a promise of a train line that never gets delivered. We're good at promising infrastructure, but not so good at delivering that infrastructure to support master-planned estates on our outer suburbs."
Dr Legacy said this has been a trend with the development of new suburbs for too long.
She believes governments across the board should re-imagine what planning a new suburb looks like.
"To think about planning in a more place-based form. So when we're thinking about planning, we're thinking about the places we want to create, that are the kinds of places people want to live," she said.
"That people feel a sense of ownership in these places and shaping them over time, and being open to them being reshaped over time."
One of the key solutions for Dr Both would be increasing bus services because, unlike trains and trams, there would be little cost in increasing service, especially for suburbs in new growth areas.
"We have the most flexibility with our bus routes. With trains and trams, it's very expensive to put them in, and, once the tracks are down there, they're not going in a different direction," he said.
"With a bus, you can change the route very easily, or comparatively easily."