Determining Optimum Design Density for 20-minute Neighbourhoods

Abstract

The 20-minute neighbourhood faces a unique challenge: more people are needed to support adequate opportunities to promote living locally whereas more opportunities mean less land for residential use to accommodate more people. This study maps 20-minute neighbourhoods for Melbourne’s statistical areas (SA1) and estimates optimum population density for a 20-minute neighbourhood. The results show that, on an average distance to CBD, 19 different types of opportunities and services can be supported at 36 dwellings/ha (optimum). The study reports a range of planning standards at different combinations of density and distance factors.

Accessibility inequality across Europe: a comparison of 15-minute pedestrian accessibility in cities with 100,000 or more inhabitants

“…Although finding an 'ideal' density value is beyond the scope of this article, our results suggest that this threshold stands around 7500 inhabits./km 2 or 75 res/ha, which seems sufficient to achieve good variety. Another work 43 indicates a limit of 92 res/ha, although their line or reasoning was not pointed toward the Variety indicator.…”

Urban Planning in the 15-Minute City: Revisited under Sustainable and Smart City Developments until 2030

“…There are a host of variations of the FMC model, ranging from the one-minute to the 20-minute city, with the most common timeframes being 15 or 20 min. For instance, the optimal radius for a 20-minute neighborhood is 800 m (the distance the average human walks in that time) [12,15], which corresponds to an average area of two square kilometers. In parallel, while urban density is inarguably an important determinant of urban livability and is positively associated with better and more balanced availability of infrastructures enabling healthier urban environments, further research is needed to determine optimal density ranges in the FMC [14].…”

“…As the key characteristic of an FMC is to support local access and living, basic amenities and services should be offered in close proximity, thus making urban planning and design in a mixed-land-use regime a necessity [15]. In the FMC neighborhood unit context, existing research posits that essential urban services should be available within a distance of 500 to 800 m from a place of residence [12,15], and while urban planning based on mixed land use in appropriate variations is more or less an established value in achieving sustainable urban environments, the FMC highlights an additional characteristic that can complicate the situation: providing local access to the workplace [2]. Workplace localization is especially important if we consider the socioeconomic benefits of reducing commuting to and from work [21].…”

“…As a natural consequence of proximity-based planning, providing a mixed use of land is also a core element of the FMC. That being said, it is clear that, in the FMC, there will be fierce competition over land use, as the more variety there is in land use, the more successful an FMC will be in fulfilling its proximity mandate [15]. In parallel, it is important to have variations in the land-use mix to enable the existence of and transitions between urban and rural environments and their in-betweens (urban core, urban center, general urban, suburban, etc.)…”

The Resilience of Egyptian Cities against Health Crises 'Egyptian Pandemic City Tool'

“…Source: Author based on [14,15] This 20-minute trip entails walking 800 meters from home to a particular destination and back. Alternatively, a ten-minute walk to your destination and a ten-minute walk back home, access to local health facilities and services, schools, and shopping malls are examples of daily necessities destination [16,17,18].…”