Urban Planning & Proximity Models

The 15-minute city has become the de-facto vocabulary for proximity planning in Europe, popularised by Paris under Anne Hidalgo and Carlos Moreno's framework, and adopted in different forms by Milan, Madrid, Utrecht and dozens of others. The idea: most daily needs — shopping, schooling, healthcare, sport — within a short walk or cycle of home.

Delivering proximity requires zoning reform (mixed-use, smaller blocks, ground-floor activation), adaptive reuse of existing buildings, and the regeneration of brownfield and post-industrial areas. The New European Bauhaus, URBACT, the European Urban Initiative and EU Cohesion Policy all fund this work; Barcelona's Superilles, Vienna's Aspern Seestadt and Hamburg's HafenCity show what scaled delivery looks like.

This leaf gathers research, projects and organisations on proximity planning, urban regeneration and adaptive reuse, mixed-use development, placemaking, and the regulatory tools that translate spatial vision into outcomes — useful for planners, urban designers, regeneration agencies and city development teams.