In order to tackle pressing environmental challenges and to improve quality of life for city residents, urban space and mobility has to be radically transformed. The concept of the 15-minute-city has been proposed as a new way of thinking about urban environments, putting a focus on the capability of the urban environment to fulfill basic economic, social and recreational needs within a short walk or bike ride, thus making individual car ownership and long commutes obsolete.
Maps have historically been used to communicate the opportunities present in a specific area for specific or general use cases. What maps do we need in order to support the concept of the 15-minute-city?

This project can be developed in one of several directions: With a social sciences focus, the needs and requirements of different stakeholders (residents of various demographics, businesses, decision makers etc.) for a regional urban map should be assessed, both for everyday and exceptional situations. This assessment should use qualitative and quantitative methods and result in a compilation of requirements of different stakeholders, and a prototypical proposal for map design(s). Also, critical approaches that question the concept of the 15-minute-city, would be welcome!
With a map design focus, the requirements assessment can be performed more superficially or be based on existing work, and the focus should be to develop and test design proposals for maps for urban regions. Designs should be based on a systematic assessment of the requirements of various stakeholders and user groups, and multiple variants (e.g. different information density, different visualization techniques) should be tested with a representative user group in a qualitative or quantitative field study.

With a focus on mapping technology and programming, the goal would be to create a system that is capable to create individually tailored maps for users of the urban environment (residents, workers etc.) and to test the acceptance and suitability of the prototype system with real-world users.

Initial Research Questions

• Is 15 minutes really the optimal duration for assessing and modeling the area reachable within walking distance? What are comfortable distances for various demographic groups?
• Which layers of information are needed for a map of the 15-minute city, and what is appropriate symbology?
• How to visualize the area reachable by various means of transport (walking, cycling, public transport) within one map?

Skills required for the project
Depending on the chosen focus, this project can be undertaken with a wide range of skills and interests.

Staff working in this domain:
Florian Ledermann (florian.ledermann@tuwien.ac.at)