Discussion: Ageing Cities, shrinking places, and the re-emerging question of proximity
Due to demographic ageing, planning for all age groups has often been discussed in recent decades with an emphasis on social cohesion, community development, urban health, and the adaptation of planning practices to new mobility needs and trends. As societies age, the capacity for physically intensive mobility shrinks in terms of endurance and speed, and city areas and land use become less reachable in that sense. Demographic data of today and future projections, especially regarding Europe, both point out that equity of access through active mobility is to become more challenging in the future. This observation in the era of fast intercontinental transport and the vast adoption of digital tools that eliminate physical proximity for many economic activities and material flows almost represents an irony.
In light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns experience, the surging return of interest to the local unit as the core of multiple and overlapping human activities was a notable and welcomed outcome of this turbulent period. Proximity theories, whether they refer to a 5-,10-, or 15-minute model or a 500m or 1000m distance buffer, can as such be regarded as justified models for walkable and neighborhood-oriented cities. Regarding 15MC, the theory bears novel and interesting concepts such as the embracement of high densities linked to the massive adoption of digital technologies. However, focusing more on time values ( or 'chrono-urbanism) also involves significant limitations, especially when the theory is taken as a literal goal or spatial analysis method. In this case, if the core element of the theory (15-minute distance) is stressed with challenging issues such as demographic ageing, the limitations of such conventions become more evident and need to be better adjusted.