15-Minute Cities, Sustainable Mobility and Urban Livability: A New Urban Landscape Challenge

Climate and health challenges are currently major sources of concern, both locally and globally, prompting substantial scientific research into how place-based human choices that relate to factors like urban land use and spatial mobility patterns influence the geographic conditions that lead to unexpected or undesired hazardous consequences for urban life. In response to such challenges, the 15-minute city concept shifts the planning focus from spatial movement towards urban liveability, positioning the well-being of residents as the key concern of modern cities and offering a new urban design model for enhanced quality of life. This editorial introduction contextualises the concept of the 15-minute city and identifies crucial research gaps in the scientific literature, in particular, the lack of thorough, interdisciplinary analysis concerning challenges present in transportation and mobility with regard to urban form, social equity, health, and environmental sustainability. Consequently, the introduction details how this volume, devoted to the 15-minute city concept, fills this void by providing novel, evidence-based, and policy-relevant information from a combined, real-world transportation-land use perspective on the opportunities and bottlenecks of this new urban planning model. Finally, the introduction also presents the structure of this volume, outlining six comprehensive parts covering conceptual foundations, policy support, equity issues, land use, accessibility metrics, and digitalisation that integrate diverse perspectives on exploring the implications of the 15-minute city framework for urban wellbeing.