Resetting the clock by integrating urban nature and its biodiversity into the 15-minute city concept – Nature

Executive Summary

The 15-minute city concept, designed to enhance urban accessibility, presents a significant opportunity to advance multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by integrating urban nature and biodiversity. This report outlines a framework for merging human-centric urban planning with ecological requirements, directly supporting SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 15 (Life on Land), and SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being). Current implementations often overlook biodiversity, representing a missed opportunity. By incorporating natural elements with high social-ecological value, such as pocket parks and community gardens, urban planning can foster social cohesion, provide recreational opportunities, and create vital habitat connectivity. This integrated approach enhances urban livability for both human and non-human populations, aligning urban development with global sustainability and biodiversity conservation targets.

Introduction: Aligning Urban Planning with Sustainable Development Goals

The global trend of urbanization presents a dual challenge: achieving sustainable urban development for a growing human population while simultaneously halting the loss of biodiversity, as mandated by SDG 11 and SDG 15. Traditionally, urban planning and environmental protection have operated in separate spheres, hindered by institutional fragmentation and a lack of integrated policy. This separation limits the capacity to create urban environments that are livable for all species.

The 15-minute city concept, which prioritizes proximity to essential services, offers a promising framework to reconcile these objectives. However, its focus has been predominantly anthropocentric, largely ignoring the needs of urban ecosystems. This report argues for a paradigm shift, repositioning the 15-minute city as a tool for creating shared, biodiverse landscapes. By explicitly incorporating ecological needs, this model can become a powerful mechanism for achieving a synergistic win-win, advancing urban sustainability, human health (SDG 3), climate action (SDG 13), and biodiversity conservation (SDG 15).

Core Principles for a Sustainable and Biodiverse 15-Minute City

The transformation of the 15-minute city concept requires adapting its four foundational dimensions—proximity, density, diversity, and digitalization—to serve both human and ecological needs. This integrated perspective provides a pathway to achieving key targets within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Principle 1: Proximity and Density for Human and Ecological Well-being

The core of the 15-minute city is providing dense, proximate access to daily amenities, which reduces reliance on cars, lowers CO2 emissions, and improves air quality, contributing to SDG 3 and SDG 13. This principle is equally critical for non-human species. Many urban animals, such as pollinators and birds, have limited dispersal ranges and depend on a dense network of connected habitat patches for survival. Applying proximity-based planning to green infrastructure ensures that both humans and wildlife have access to necessary resources, directly supporting the targets of SDG 11.7 (access to green spaces) and SDG 15.5 (halting habitat degradation).

Principle 2: The Aggregate Impact of Small-Scale Green Infrastructure

While large parks are valuable, a high density of small, well-distributed green spaces like pocket parks, community gardens, and green verges can deliver significant cumulative benefits.

• For Human Populations: These small spaces promote physical activity, social interaction, and mental well-being, making nature accessible in daily life. This was particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting their role in urban resilience and public health (SDG 3).
• For Biodiversity: Small, connected habitat patches collectively host greater species turnover (beta diversity) than isolated large parks. They function as crucial stepping stones and ecological niches, supporting a wide array of plant and animal life and enhancing overall urban biodiversity (SDG 15).

Principle 3: Embracing Social and Biological Diversity

A successful 15-minute city must be diverse in both its functions and its populations to avoid social segregation and promote cohesion, a key aspect of SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and SDG 11. This principle extends to ecological diversity.

• Habitat Diversity: The biodiversity a green space can support depends on its structural complexity, including varied plant species, vegetation layers, and features like deadwood. Increasing this habitat diversity directly enhances the richness of native fauna.
• Biocultural Diversity: Planning must consider the diverse cultural values and practices related to nature among different population groups. An inclusive approach ensures that greening initiatives are equitable and reflect the community’s needs, preventing the prioritization of affluent districts.

Principle 4: Digitalization for Monitoring and Sustainable Management

Smart city technologies can optimize the 15-minute city for both people and nature. Digital tools can improve sustainable mobility, while environmental sensor networks can monitor ecosystem health, such as soil moisture for urban trees, enabling climate-resilient management (SDG 13). Furthermore, AI-powered citizen science platforms (e.g., ObsIdentify) harness public participation to gather crucial data on species distribution, informing conservation strategies and enhancing public engagement with urban biodiversity, thereby supporting the monitoring requirements of SDG 11 and SDG 15.

Challenges to Implementation and SDG Alignment

Implementing a biodiverse 15-minute city concept faces several challenges that could hinder the achievement of related SDGs. These must be addressed through strategic planning and policy.

• Competition for Space: In dense, growing cities, there is intense competition for land, often leading to the loss of natural spaces.
• Institutional and Financial Constraints: Fragmented governance, where planning departments work in silos, and limited financial resources for green infrastructure pose significant barriers.
• Risk of Green Gentrification: Environmental improvements can increase property values, potentially displacing lower-income residents and exacerbating inequality, which runs counter to SDG 10.
• Differing Public Attitudes: Public perceptions of “wild” or unmanaged nature can vary, leading to conflicts over the design and maintenance of biodiverse spaces.

Recommendations for Achieving Sustainable Urban Transformation

To overcome these challenges and effectively implement a biodiverse 15-minute city, a multi-faceted approach is required, grounded in principles of equity, participation, and context-specificity.

1. Adopt Context-Specific Planning: Planning models must be flexible and adapted to local social, ecological, and geographical realities, incorporating native ecosystems and species.
2. Prioritize Small, Connected Habitats: Focus on increasing the total area and connectivity of habitat through small-scale interventions like pocket parks, verge gardens, and green corridors, which are often more feasible than creating large new parks.
3. Implement Inclusive Governance to Avoid Green Gentrification: Employ participatory planning, inclusive zoning laws, and affordable housing policies to ensure that the benefits of urban greening are shared equitably and contribute to SDG 10.
4. Leverage Participatory and “Mosaic Governance” Approaches: Engage local communities through citizen initiatives and co-design processes. This “soft governance” can overcome financial constraints and foster a sense of ownership, as seen in projects like Berlin’s “20 Green Walks.”
5. Promote Public Education and Communication: Develop environmental education programs to address public fears or misunderstandings about urban wildlife, build support for biodiversity initiatives, and counteract misinformation.
6. Monitor and Evaluate Impacts: Systematically collect data on the social and ecological outcomes of 15-minute city implementations to build an evidence base, justify investment, and adapt strategies for maximizing benefits for both people and nature.

Conclusion: A Framework for More-than-Human Cities and the 2030 Agenda

Integrating biodiversity into the 15-minute city concept transforms it from a human-centric convenience model into a holistic framework for sustainable urban development. This approach directly addresses the interconnected goals of the 2030 Agenda, particularly SDG 11, by creating cities that are inclusive, resilient, and rich in accessible green spaces. It simultaneously advances SDG 15 by conserving urban biodiversity, SDG 3 by promoting health and well-being, and SDG 13 through climate mitigation and adaptation. By fostering daily connections between people and nature, this model also combats the “extinction of experience,” building a constituency for conservation. The challenge lies in implementing this vision equitably across diverse global cities, ensuring a just transition towards a future where urban environments support thriving ecosystems for all inhabitants, both human and non-human.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being – The article connects urban green spaces to improved mental health, social cohesion, and overall well-being.
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities – It addresses the risk of “green gentrification” and emphasizes the need for inclusive governance to ensure equitable access to improved environments.
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities – This is a central theme, focusing on sustainable urban planning, accessible public green spaces, sustainable mobility, and participatory planning.
• SDG 13: Climate Action – The article discusses how the 15-minute city concept contributes to climate resilience by reducing CO2 emissions and air pollution.
• SDG 15: Life on Land – A core focus of the article is the integration of biodiversity conservation into urban planning to halt biodiversity loss and protect habitats.
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals – The text advocates for cross-departmental collaboration, participatory planning, and “Mosaic Governance” involving citizens and NGOs.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

1. SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

   • Target 3.4: By 2030, reduce by one-third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being.
     
     Explanation: The article states that small urban green spaces can “decrease levels of psychological distress” and that the availability of these spaces can “increase people’s levels of general life satisfaction to contribute to overall wellbeing.” This directly aligns with promoting mental health and well-being.
   • Target 3.9: By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination.
     
     Explanation: The article explains that the 15-minute city concept aims to generate “independence from cars, reduce CO2 emissions and air pollution and thus contribute to healthier, climate-resilient, sustainable cities.” This directly addresses the goal of reducing illness from air pollution.

2. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

   • Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.
     
     Explanation: The article warns against “green gentrification,” where improved environmental quality leads to rising housing costs that make areas “less affordable for lower income groups.” It advocates for “inclusive governance” and “housing policies that protect low-income residents” to ensure development is equitable.

3. SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

   • Target 11.3: By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries.
     
     Explanation: The article explicitly calls for “participatory approaches in urban planning,” “cross-departmental and intersectoral collaboration,” and an “inclusive governance approach” to implement the 15-minute city concept, which are all core components of this target.
   • Target 11.7: By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces.
     
     Explanation: The central proposal of the article is to integrate natural elements like “pocket parks and community gardens” into urban neighborhoods to “support social cohesion, recreation, and habitat connectivity.” It emphasizes that these spaces should be proximate and accessible to all residents.

4. SDG 13: Climate Action

   • Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning.
     
     Explanation: The article argues that the 15-minute city concept contributes to creating “healthier, climate-resilient, sustainable cities.” It also mentions smart city measures like sensor networks to “identify hot spot areas as priority areas for climate resilient development.”

5. SDG 15: Life on Land

   • Target 15.5: Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species.
     
     Explanation: The article’s primary argument is to merge human needs with “biodiversity conservation goals.” It discusses creating “connected habitat patches,” supporting “species movement,” and maintaining “high species diversity within urban landscapes” to counteract the negative impacts of urbanization on biodiversity.
   • Target 15.9: By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts.
     
     Explanation: The entire perspective piece is a call to action for this target, proposing that urban planning concepts like the 15-minute city must “explicitly incorporate urban biodiversity’s needs” and should not be “biodiversity blind.”

6. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

   • Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships.
     
     Explanation: The article highlights the need to overcome “institutional fragmentation” and “siloed thinking” by fostering “cross-departmental and intersectoral collaboration.” It specifically mentions the “Mosaic Governance” approach, where “citizen initiatives and NGOs jointly mapped and designed a network of green corridors,” as a way to achieve goals through partnership.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

1. For SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities)

   • Implied Indicator for Target 11.7: The density, proximity, and connectivity of green spaces.
     
     Explanation: The article repeatedly emphasizes the importance of “a high density of proximate and connected habitat patches” and “networks of green spaces.” Progress could be measured by mapping the percentage of the population with access to a green space (like a pocket park) within a short walk.
   • Implied Indicator for Target 11.3: Existence of participatory and integrated planning mechanisms.
     
     Explanation: The article suggests that success requires “community involvement and participatory planning” and “cross-departmental collaboration.” The presence and effectiveness of these governance structures can serve as an indicator.

2. For SDG 15 (Life on Land)

   • Implied Indicator for Target 15.5: Measures of urban biodiversity.
     
     Explanation: The article suggests several metrics for monitoring biodiversity, including “bird species richness,” “plant beta species diversity (species turnover),” and the presence of specific taxa like “bats, native birds, beetles, and other arthropods.” It also mentions using citizen science apps like ‘ObsIdentify’ and ‘Dawn Chorus’ to “record species occurrences in urban areas.”

3. For SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being)

   • Implied Indicator for Target 3.4: Surveys on resident well-being.
     
     Explanation: The article suggests the need for more evidence on the concept’s impact and recommends “surveys on resident life satisfaction” as a way to monitor its benefits for people.

4. For SDG 13 (Climate Action)

   • Implied Indicator for Target 13.2: Environmental parameters from sensor networks.
     
     Explanation: The article mentions the use of “city-wide climate measurement sensor networks to measure environmental parameters such as air temperature or soil humidity.” These data can be used to monitor the effectiveness of climate adaptation measures.

4. Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: nature.com