I wrote the below in Örebro on May 27, 2020.
I have been interested in issues of walkability for decades now but haven’t consistently lived in walkable cities.
When I do, my appreciation knows no bounds.
Our current location in central Sweden embodies the concepts of a 15-minute city. I can reach all I need (services, parks, public spaces etc) on foot in 15 minutes or less. People in wheelchairs are frequently rolling around town and much thought has clearly been put into the benefit of trees lining pedestrian spaces as well.
This morning I was reminded, in such a practical way, about the benefits of such proximity as a function of healthy urbanism.
I took the 5-minute bus ride to drop my kids off at school (some mornings we walk) and then walked the approximately 12 minutes back to our block to go to the post service booth at our local grocery store.
As I was there, I got a text reminder of a doctor’s appointment I had in 10 minutes. Uh oh- I forgot about that! But I was able to finish up, walk briskly to the hospital (about 7 minutes), and end up being almost on time.
After my appointment, I walked the approximately 7-minute walk back home to clean, do errands, and then go to lunch at my favorite restaurant in the heart of the city.
Later, I would walk to my kids’ school and enjoy the walk home with them, taking in the sights of the city and running last-minute errands before settling in for the evening.
I refer to this city often, not because I love it (though it was nice to meet many locals passionate about their city), but it was while living there that I heard of the 15-minute city concept and had a quietly revelatory moment, as that lifestyle is what I was living
While living there, I established Pedestrian Space and began to document aspects of walkability, learning so much in the context of a city that prioritizes the pedestrian experience.
Bottom: Images from our 5-minute neighborhood lifestyle in a district in Warsaw
It is now 5 years later, and I am a 4th (and final) year PhD student. I spent my fieldwork time researching issues of walkable urbanism in the 15-minute city context in Warsaw, where, for most of the 3 years that I lived there, my family and I lived a predominantly 5-10 minute neighborhood lifestyle in our district. More on ‘5-Minute Neighborhood Realities’ below.
While my specific experience is not a part of my research, it obviously forms a significant aspect of the foundation and motivations for my research. Researcher ‘positionality’ is an extremely rich area for me, and I also explore it in the paper ‘Researcher reflections from an urban lab: best practices and barriers of walkable urbanism via a 15-minute neighbourhood lens in Warsaw‘ published in Cities & Health Journal earlier this year.
