COVID-19 and the 15-Minute City: Evolving Public Service Dynamics in Response to Pandemic Policies

The 15-min city model promises hyper-local accessibility to essential services, yet its resilience faces unprecedented challenges during systemic crises. This study investigates how COVID-19 pandemic policies disrupted public service dynamics in Tianjin, China—an early adopter of the 15-min city framework—through a mixed-methods approach combining policy analysis, GIS spatial mapping, and questionnaire surveys across pandemic phases. The diminished accessible ranges of a 15-min walking distance and quantity of available services were largely observed. Changes in open areas and operating hours of facilities influenced service capacity. The factors of accessibility, quantity, and capacity together caused a cascading effect of service supply alterations. The results reveal essential life and health care services were universally overwhelming demands during lockdowns, but attention needs to be paid to the vulnerabilities of groups and areas where potential demand–supply imbalances and variations may have occurred. The pandemic exposed the 15 min city model’s spatial disparities and inflexibility in service elasticity. We argue that future 15-min cities must integrate: 1) Hybrid digital-physical service delivery to maintain access during mobility restrictions, 2) Equity-centered crisis governance prioritizing high-risk areas and groups 3) Adaptive planning protocols enabling rapid conversion of spaces. Consequently, we advocate for further institutional adaptations to ensure that the existing 15-min city can effectively adapt and transform to enhance system resilience in response to epidemics or emergencies.