This year’s OBEL award, an international prize for architecture that honours recent and outstanding architectural contributions to human development worldwide, was won by the ‘15-minute City’, as defined by Professor Carlos Moreno. The goal of the winning idea is a truly liveable and sustainable urban future that places each global citizen at the heart of their own city. The concept is based around designing (or redesigning) cities so that all residents can access their daily needs (housing, work, food, health, education and culture & leisure) within a 15-minute walk or bike ride. This dramatically reduces road congestion and carbon emissions and improves people’s health and well-being.
The rhythm of the city should follow humans, not cars
The 15-minute City is an intuitive concept that revolves around a straightforward principle: the city’s rhythm should follow humans, not cars. It has therefore proven easy to translate into political programmes and policies which can make a tangible difference in people’s lives. In fact, the 15-minute City model has already achieved real, positive change in geographically and culturally diverse cities such as Paris, Chengdu, Melbourne and Bogotá. Click to watch a short video featuring Carlos Moreno talking inspirationally about the concept.
The spread of innovative concepts such as the 15-minute City is happening in parallel with technological advancements that are accelerating trends such as autonomous, connected, electric and shared mobility. Additionally, changes in the services industry are enabling more personalised and multi-modal mobility. All of these developments will impact your approach to corporate mobility, first and foremost in relation to your business premises located in dense urban areas.
It is time to reflect and prepare
Take some time off to reflect and start preparing for the future of urban mobility by giving yourself some food for thought and considering the following questions:
Is your organisation already involved in discussions around the 15-minute City concept or smart mobility planning? If not, which discussion groups or initiatives could you join and contribute to?
How will the future of urban mobility impact on your organisation, and when do you expect to see the first changes?
As a mobility expert within your organisation, how will you prepare for these changes? Which ones are most important to your organisation, both tactically and strategically?
Which changes will be easiest to respond to, and which will be most challenging?
What should be your first step in getting ready for the future of urban mobility?
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