Cycling in the 15-minute city : strategies to redefine our urban environments and mobility within it

Abstract

Advancing all forms of cycling – mobility, recreation, exercise and sport – constitutes a necessary and critical component of the strategy to address many of the major mobility and related challenges in 21st century urban environments. As society increasingly face the dangers of exponential climate change, overpopulation and congestion, health complications due to inactivity, and elevated road-based dangers, modern society needs to embrace each and every solution that potentially mitigates and refocuses our lives to one of health and sustainability. The bicycle serves as one of the greatest inventions of all in the quest to bring about equality and independence in mobility: the ideal vehicle on which to both tread lightly on the earth, and connect people in a dynamic and healthy manner. This paper will explore current measures to promote cycling in all its forms, and the strategies required to shift the balance in the urban environment from the dominant (private motor car) towards active mobility. Land use, road design, greening the city, universal access, an understanding of human behavioural choices, and the dismantling of barriers to safe and active travel – all require interrogation. The shift to a compact, fifteen minute city will result in a city for people.