Understanding the determinants of x-minute city policies: A review of the North American and Australian cities’ planning documents

The concept of a x-minute city (or 15-minute city) has recently emerged and has been endorsed by many policymakers across the globe, with the aim of achieving a wide array of economic, environmental, and social goals related to people's quality of life and community cohesion. The concept refers to developing neighborhoods in which destinations of interest are accessible locally by active transportation modes. Despite the popularity of this concept, there has been little effort to understand its determinants, and policy directions related to this concept seem thematically and geographically dispersed. To address this gap in the literature, this study aims at understanding the developed x-minute city policies across North America and Australia. To achieve this goal, a detailed analysis of different x-minute city policies that have been recently developed was conducted. Using scholarly work, news articles, and a systematic identification approach several cities in North America and Australia were identified to be included in the research by reviewing their planning documents. In total, 15 cities were identified with very recent plans and documents that incorporated the concept of x-minute cities. Based on the analysis, several cities incorporated the concept of x-minute city with the idea of achieving complete local living, while introducing several targets, goals, and measures. Nevertheless, most of the cities operationalized the concept differently by using various types of modes of transportation, cut-off values, and destinations. This study offers transit practitioners and planners a better understanding of the determinants of the concept, helping them in incorporating it into future plans.