Why the world’s best travel destinations are 15-minute cities

Now let’s talk about Barcelona, ​​which was already pretty much a 15-minute city even before urban planners began introducing “superblocks”, which we’ll get to in a second.

If you’ve been to Barcelona, ​​you know immediately why it’s such an amazing place to spend time as a tourist (let alone a resident). Everything is right there. Stay in a neighborhood such as Sant Antoni, which is not at all designed with tourists in mind, and you get to soak up the lifestyle, walking to the market that is filled with good food, walking to the vermouth bars that line the streets around Calle del Parlament, visiting the supermarket, seeing the library, calling into a hairdresser, visiting the hospital clinic if you need it, walking streets that have been closed off to traffic.

Barcelona was always great, but it’s become even greater since the city started introducing “superblocks”, which are square groups of nine city blocks (3 x 3) where the streets between have been closed to cars, creating these pedestrian pockets where everything you need is right there, accessible on foot, with no car noise, no traffic jams.

That’s how I like to travel. That’s the sort of place I want to spend time in.

Copenhagen is another great example of an urban hub that is already a 15-minute city. Everyone cycles in the Danish capital. One area, Nordhaven, is being billed as a “5-minute city”, with everything anyone could ever need within a five-minute ride.

Of course, tourists are still going to want to get around the place and visit a few sites that aren’t hospitals or hairdressers, but that’s still a breeze here, with all the dedicated cycle paths and Copenhagen’s already tight configuration.

There are more, too. Paris is a 15-minute city that is trying to become even greener and easier to get around. Amsterdam is up there. Dubai is working on making itself at least a “20-minute city” with a vast increase in access to public transport. In Australia, Melbourne is the leader in this regard, with steps being taken to provide all the essentials within each neighborhood area.

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The key to this concept, of course, is getting rid of the necessity for cars. As a local I think that would be amazing. As a visitor it’s even better. No more worrying about (and spending money on) taxis and Ubers. No more spending half your holiday sitting in traffic trying to get to the next place you want to visit. You can walk places. You can rent a bike and ride.

This shouldn’t be a controversial concept. It shouldn’t even be a topic of debate.

Maybe Taylor Swift could write a song about it.