Public transport in the 15-minute city

TL;DR

This paper proposes a framework integrating public transport into the 15-minute city model, demonstrating how multimodal mobility enhances access and social integration in urban peripheries using data from Helsinki, Madrid, and Budapest.

Contribution

It introduces a data-driven framework for incorporating public transport into the 15-minute city concept, highlighting the importance of polycentric networks for inclusive urban accessibility.

Findings

Multimodal mobility significantly increases access to amenities.

Radial or high-speed lines improve social mixing in urban peripheries.

Optimizing polycentric networks enhances inclusive urban accessibility.

Abstract

The 15-minute city is a powerful planning concept to counter car-dependence by promoting active mobility to amenities and fostering inclusive urban environments. However, this policy has challenges in amenity-poor urban peripheries. Public transport remains underexplored in this discourse despite its role in distant access. Here, we propose a framework that incorporates public transport into the 15-minute city model using openly available data. By comparing Helsinki, Madrid, and Budapest, we demonstrate that multimodal mobility substantially increases access to amenities and enhances socio-spatial integration within a 15-minute reach. Although urban periphery benefit significantly from radial or high-speed public transport lines in their social mixing potential, such lines alone do not improve their access to amenities. These findings underscore the need to optimize polycentric public transport networks that can improve inclusive urban accessibility and complement active mobility in polycentric cities.