This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101139636
How 9 European cities are leveraging proximity to create complete neighbourhoods for people and nature
This article elaborates on the first pillar of the ReGreeneration project, titled “complete neighbourhoods – Reshaping urban areas into compact, mixed-use neighbourhoods that foster proximity to key amenities, accessible by all”. It provides a brief description of what complete neighbourhoods are and it analyses the actions taken by the ReGreeneration cities to promote urban proximity, focusing on soft mobility and basic services provision.
Authors: Chiara Martinuzzi, Paris Song (Chaire ETI – IAE Paris Sorbonne)
Introduction
As urban fragmentation, traffic congestion, climate change and social disparities are affecting European cities, local governments need to rethink traditional urban planning practices. Urban proximity offers a comprehensive and transformative perspective towards urban challenges, putting people and the environment first. Proximity refers to creating urban environments where essential services and amenities are within a short distance of residents’ households, fostering accessibility and reducing reliance on motorised vehicles. In contrast with modern urbanism approaches, urban proximity encourages more compact neighbourhood living allowing for more walking and cycling, as well as improved access to urban nature positively impacting our health and well-being, the environment and our economy.
The concept has its roots in crono-urbanism theories, where cities are planned considering not only space, but also time. There is a rich selection of theories, models and plans that promotes urban proximity before the advent of the 15-minute city concept, including Cerda’s Plan for Barcelona expansion (1859), Howard’s Garden City (1902), Perry’s neighbourhood units (1920), and even more recent applications such as the “Complete Neighbourhoods” of Portland Plan (2012) and the “Superblocks” of Barcelona Plan (2016) (Marchigiani et al., 2022). More recently, Chaire ETI Scientific Director Professor Carlos Moreno has elaborated the “15-minute city” model, promoting a polycentric city with interconnected, self-sufficient and vibrant neighbourhoods. The model defines six essential social functions that should be accessible to all residents within 15 minutes walking or cycling: living, working, supplying, caring, learning and enjoying (Chaire ETI, 2023). The 15-minute city is dynamic and ever-changing, adapting to the local conditions and the community needs, promoting a participatory and evidence-based approach to urban planning.
This concept has inspired governmental actions and policies around the world, from Paris’ “La ville du quart d’heure”, to Shanghai’s “15-minute community life circles”, Bogota’s “Barrios Vitales”, or Glasgow’s “Livable Neighbourhoods” programme, among others (C40, 2020). C40 has been promoting the adoption of urban proximity principles among its network of over 100 cities worldwide, through knowledge development and capacity-building activities especially in the Green & Thriving Neighbourhoods program. Finally, the recently launched Global Observatory of Sustainable Proximities (GOSP), a joint initiative of Chaire ETI, UN-Habitat and UCLG, intends to develop principles, indicators, tools and best practices on urban proximity, acting as a knowledge sharing and capacity building platform, to spark a multi-stakeholder international dialogue.
ReGreeneration cities: Where are we at?
The ReGreeneration project promotes urban proximity, putting as one of its pillars “complete neighbourhoods – Reshaping urban areas into compact, mixed-use neighbourhoods that foster proximity to key amenities, accessible by all” (C40, 2024). The cities involved in the project have progressed on urban proximity depending on their local agendas, by adopting the 15-minute city slogan or by implementing actions that contribute indirectly to urban proximity. Below are described the proximity initiatives promoted by each city, outside the context of the ReGreeneration project, which focuses particularly on access to basic services and active mobility.
1. Paris, France
Paris and its Mayor Anne Hidalgo were the first city to adopt the concept of the “15-minute city”, during the 2020 election. With the Pact of Proximity, the city delegates to the local districts’ administration decision-making power as well as financial resources, to promote urban proximity initiatives, tailored to the needs of the various neighbourhoods. The concept of proximity has also been integrated within the 2023 renovated Master Plan “Local bioclimatic urban planning plan” that consolidate the urban vision of Paris for the next 10-15 years.

Paris advocates for city-wide, long-term and systemic initiatives that create a network of opportunities and promote equal distribution of proximity benefits, rather than punctual interventions that might have a limited impact. Additionally, the city does not seek to build or install new facilities but rather transform existing structures into multi-purposed units that provide different services simultaneously or at different times of the week. Paris’s proximity agenda focuses on active mobility, schools, culture and public participation (DUT, 2024).
For instance, the project “Oasis courses” has repurposed over 130 school courtyards as new green public space for aggregation, open to the public on Saturdays. “School streets” has integrated traffic calming, pedestrianisation or green interventions in over 200 streets, to improve scholars’ road safety in their commute to school. The city is proposing to integrate “Citizen kiosks” in the neighbourhoods, to create aggregation spaces where people can meet, ask for advice, and have access to city agents or associations. “Beautify your neighbourhood” seeks residents’ proposals to improve public spaces, through the online platform Décider for participatory budgeting (Ville de Paris, 2022).
Regarding mobility, the city of Paris promotes active mobility like walking and cycling. After the successful implementation of the Bicycle Plan 2015-2020, with over 1094 km of built bike lanes in 2021 and a daily use increase of 47% from 2019 to 2020, Paris invests another € 250 million in the new Bicycle Plan 2021-2026, aiming to become a 100% cyclable city by 2026. The Pedestrian Plan 2023-2030 intends to create 100 new hectares of pedestrian space, integrating green sidewalks and shaded structures. Through the Grand Paris Express project, Paris is expanding the metro lines to connect the periphery of the metropolitan area, creating a total of 200 km of new tracks and 68 stations.
2. Barcelona, Spain
Historically, the city of Barcelona pioneered urban proximity through the 1860 Cerdà’s plan for the Barcelona extension. This plan has inspired the modern concept of the 15-minute city through its emphasis on public spaces and the rational distribution of essential services and infrastructure.
More recently, Barcelona introduced the “Superblocks” with the 2013-2018 Urban Mobility Plan, as a strategy to reclaim streets as public spaces. The plan created car-free zones that foster active mobility, social interaction, and boost the local economy. The plan identified 120 intersections for pedestrianisation, where clusters of secondary streets are closed to through traffic (City of Barcelona, 2014). Building on the plan achievements, the 2019-2024 Urban Mobility Plan aims to reduce private car traffic by 25%, while promoting sustainable mobility, with increases of +7,5% for walking, +129% for cycling, and +15% for public transport (City of Barcelona, 2020).
In 2021, the city developed a Superblock Urban Regeneration Strategy, investing €525 million to 1) transform public space, 2) improve neighbourhoods and facilities, 3) reactivate the economic fabric, 4) foster sustainable mobility and 5) increase the current public housing stock (City of Barcelona, 2021). The city plans to expand its cycling network from 120 km to 272 km, pacify the surroundings of 200 schools, create 33 hectares of new green spaces and 21 kilometres of green corridors.
The plan de barris or Neighbourhood Plan is the city’s tool for implementing the principles of proximity at a local scale and ensuring neighbourhood proximity. So far neighbourhood plans have been developed for 27 neighbourhoods, with investments on education, culture, social rights, economic activation and employment, housing and public spaces. The plan also has established neighbourhood councils, as a decentralised governance mechanism to actively involve and organise citizens participation in urban planning processes (City of Barcelona, 2023).
The Proximity and Interior Spaces Programme (PEPI) intends to work on public spaces in proximity, intervening on underutilised spaces distributed throughout all Barcelona neighbourhoods. These plots of land and spaces between buildings, corners or interiors of blocks that have great potential once transformed to increase greenery and health benefits for the citizens (City of Barcelona, 2024). Finally, Barcelona has developed a Digital Twin Platform, to measure the accessibility of essential services within 15 minutes walk, encompassing all the six social functions.
3. Alverca, Portugal
The Municipality of Vila Franca de Xira follows the Lisbon Metropolitan Area Sustainable Mobility Action Plan, a strategic document that supports the Strategic Urban Development Plan, guides the actions of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML), and frames the investment priorities of the AML municipalities, including those in Alverca. In Alverca, under the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira, the private-public partnership has played a major role in advancing proximity planning. Two major private projects improve pedestrian and cycling accessibility and create new centralities in the municipality. One of them is the new Mercadona supermarket, built on a wasteland between the transport internode and the city centre, which rearranges the road organisation and improves pedestrian mobility. Next to the upcoming supermarket is the second project, Alverca Commercial Gallery. The place was neglected for over 30 years and will be transformed into a building complex providing diverse functions, including housing, green spaces, community shop, a gym, and retails. The project also extends the EN10 cycle path and strengthens the connection to the city.
The recent completion of the Loures riverside path has improved the connections, covering a 6.1km path to cycle and walk between Vila Franca de Xira and the city of Lisbon (PLRET). Meanwhile, the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira is working to improve the riverside, bringing people closer to the sea by clearing out the land currently occupied by containers and industries, and transforming it into a riverside green park.
Finally, Alverca is looking at sustainable options for personal mobility and logistics, and will develop and test data-driven and user-centred 15-minute city models in a suburban context, with a focus on boosting the transition to climate-neutral, liveable, and inclusive cities (DUT 2022).
4. Bucharest, Romania
In 2023, the Romanian Senate adopted two draft laws that refer to the concept of urban proximity. Particularly, the PL-x no. 418/2023 regarding the Land Development, Urban Planning and Construction Code, and the PL-x no. 47/2023 regarding sustainable urban mobility, which will promote actions linked to sustainable mobility and urban regeneration of neighbourhoods that provides access to services within 20 minutes (Gazeta de Cluj, 2024).
In the 2nd District of Bucharest, several initiatives promote sustainable urban development, in line with the broader goals of the city’s development strategy. The Local Integrated and Sustainable Development Strategy outlines specific goals for improving the quality of life in the 2nd District, including revitalising public spaces, enhancing pedestrian and cycling infrastructure and promoting cultural and recreational activities. Furthermore, the 2nd District has initiated a series of community-led projects to rehabilitate underutilised areas, turning them into vibrant, multifunctional spaces for residents, including renovation of historic areas within the “New Old Center” and “New Obor” projects.
5. Rome, Italy
Already in 2008, the city of Rome introduced the concept of local centralities in the General Regulatory Plan (PRG), the normative document that regulates the city urban development. With the election of the mayor Roberto Gualtieri in 2021, urban proximity is a core part of the city urban strategy, led by the urban planning department. The city council launched the initiative “Roma a portata di mano”, to reunite the city of Rome “from the periphery to the city centre” and inter-connect its 15 municipalities, bringing public services closer to its citizens, boosting public transport and recognising the value of public spaces.
The city established a dedicated city department, to strengthen decentralised governance, collaboration between the city and the municipalities and citizens participation. It also conducted a thorough territorial diagnostic to understand the level of accessibility of services, particularly focusing on education, health, rail mobility (tram and urban train), digital divide, green spaces and cultural facilities.
Leveraging the territorial findings and the PRG guidelines, each municipality conducted a series of public consultations, identifying 3 to 4 prioritised areas for interventions. The city, working closely with the local administration, has developed 15 project documents that include a masterplan, two pilot projects and a technical feasibility study. 15 pilot interventions have been selected and approved, to regenerate degraded and underserviced areas, with a corresponding budget of €1.5 million for each municipality. Through the selected interventions, the city will implement open green public spaces, recreational and aggregation facilities, pedestrian and cycling lanes, pedestrian areas and retrofitting of underutilised buildings (Roma Capitale, 2022; Roma Capitale, 2024).
6. Ghent, Belgium
In terms of proximity, Ghent is focusing on micro-centrality. The unique interconnectivity and its rather compact scale are the city’s greatest assets, making the 15-minute city in Ghent a fact. The Structural Vision 2030 – Space for Ghent adopted in 2018 further enables and strengthens this interconnectivity. By focusing on micro-centrality, every resident can have access to local basic facilities within walking or cycling distance of their home. Micro-centrality can be achieved by introducing new clusters of facilities and services and by opening up large monofunctional companies and buildings such as hospitals, educational institutions and sports halls. In the Mobility Plan adopted in 2015, proximity, just like selective accessibility, is also an important target. As the traffic pressure is reduced, squares and streets provide new opportunities for walking, cycling, gathering and enjoying a pleasant public space.
7. Segrate, Italy
The municipality of Segrate, adjacent to the city of Milano, is part of the Milano Metropolitan Area. While Segrate has not explicitly promoted the concept of proximity, it has embraced an agenda focused on environmental sustainability and neutrality by joining initiatives such as the Green City Network. The network, which includes over 250 cities, helps local governments implement ecological transition actions by organising knowledge-sharing sessions and developing guidelines.
Segrate is directing public funds toward the rehabilitation of green spaces to create multiscale and vibrant public areas, such as the metropolitan New Central Park, the municipal Mulini park, and neighbourhood Natura Park. Additionally, the city has joined the “ForestaMi” initiative promoted by the Milan Metropolitan Area, with the goal of planting one tree for every resident by 2030.
In terms of mobility, Segrate has developed the “ciclopolitana” – a cycling network thought of as a metroline. This network consists of six routes with bike lanes and stations that connect all of Segrate’s essential services. The “ciclopolitana” supports initiatives such as the “bicibus” or the “pedibus”, which encourage sustainable commuting to school. Moreover, Segrate has been identified as a future multimodal mobility hub for metropolitan and regional relevance – the Milan Est Gate hub – due to the upcoming construction of a new high-speed train station. This has prompted the administration to extend the metro line 4, linking Segrate with Linate Airport and the city of Milano.
8. Lappeenranta, Finland
The urban agenda of the city of Lappeenranta does not have a specific focus on proximity. However, its Climate Programme 2021-2030, for carbon neutrality by 2030, and Lappeenranta Regional Roadmap for Sustainable Tourism, aiming to halve the carbon footprint of tourism by 2030, have strong linkages with urban proximity principles.
Infact, the plans promote low-carbon mobility, boosting electric public transport and the e-bikes and e-vehicles sharing services and it intends to reduce emissions of public services’ buildings, such as swimming halls, libraries, museums, etc. The city also promotes the conservation and management of urban forests, as well as tree planting and the integration of green oases, such as the fortress and the harbour areas.
The City of Lappeenranta has been awarded the EU Mission Label for climate-neutral and smart cities for its impressive and ambitious work for the environmental agenda (City of Lappeenranta, 2023; Visit Lappeenranta, 2024).
9. Ljubljana, Slovenia
Ljubljana promotes a city where essential services are accessible to the residents by walking and cycling. Ljubljana Vision 2025 emphasises that “the availability of basic urban services and job opportunities in the new residential areas will enhance the quality of everyday life”, highlighting the importance of green public spaces, medical care services, recreational facilities, housing, daycare centres, and walking and cycling infrastructures. It also notes that mixed land-use planning reduces traffic and ensures conditions for a constant flow of activities throughout the city. Vision 2025-2045 is in making and addresses all above mentioned themes and has more ambitious goals.
The Municipal Spatial Plan 2018 focuses on the restoration of brownfields to develop new economic zones and expand green public spaces. A key element of the plan is the rehabilitation of the Ljubljanica River banks, envisioned as a green corridor and a potential new mode of transport (City of Ljubljana, 2018).
In terms of mobility, The Municipal Integrated Transport Strategy 2017 sets a target for 2027, aiming for two-thirds of all journeys to be made on foot, by bicycle, or via public transport. A revised edition, covering actions for 2025-2032, is currently under development. The strategy envisions Ljubljana as “the city of short distances and good accessibility,” where “residents of each community have basic services within walking distance” (City of Ljubljana, 2018). Additionally, the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan for Ljubljana Urban Region 2018 was developed to address the issue of over 120,000 vehicles entering the city every day, as 90% of jobs are located in Ljubljana. The Regional Plan promotes an improved public transport system that invests in rail transport and cycling infrastructures.
Reflections
The article summarises the various initiatives taken by the ReGreeneration cities linked to urban proximity, outside the scope of the ReGreeneration project and with a particular focus on the actions that promote increased access to basic services and active mobility. As the ReGreeneration project intends to promote urban proximity, the article captures the urban framework where the urban interventions of the ReGreeneration project will feed into.
Some of the initiatives analysed above have a direct and stated link with the proximity agenda. In fact, some cities already have a clear political commitment and a technical framework to implement proximity actions, such as Paris and Rome. Other cities, instead, promote the principles of urban proximity through indirect initiatives and impact. Moreover, while most of the actions analysed are implemented at the city level, Romania is implementing national measures, with the introduction of two laws, consequently orienting the future urban regulations also in Bucharest.
The proximity-related initiatives promoted by the cities could be linked to mobility plan, policies or implemented projects, such as Sustainable Mobility Urban Plans (SUMPs) of various cities, the Superblocks of Barcelona, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan of Paris, the Ciclopolinata of Segrate, the 8 Green Climate Axes of Ghent, the e-biking service of Lappeenranta, among others. Alternatively, cities are promoting proximity through urban regulatory plans and public space interventions, including, the Masterplan of various cities, the Neighbourhood Plan of Barcelona, the “Oasis courtyards” of Paris, multi-purpose commercial complex of Alverca, the multi-scalar parks of Segrate, the Building Block Vision of Ghent and the Vision 2025 of Ljubljana. Some cities have also developed decentralising governance mechanisms, such as the Pact of Proximity of Paris, the Neighbourhood Councils of Barcelona, and the dedicated department for the 15-minute city in Rome, to boost localised decision-making and empower local administration at the neighbourhood level.
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