Photo credit: City of Brussels
Since 2018, the City of Brussels has sought to become a 10-minute city. Its new interactive mapping tool is taking the city one step closer to achieving this vision.
A city of proximity
The 10-minute city concept builds on the 15-minute city, where residents can access essential services and meet daily needs within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from home. The original idea has been embraced by cities worldwide, including Melbourne, Utrecht, Valencia, Edinburgh, Buenos Aires, Shanghai, and Portland.
Today, the concept is a guiding principle in the city’s spatial planning. Claire Hertsens, Geographer at the Urban Department, Urban planning and development, explains how: “The 10-minute city guides our urban planning work by encouraging us to rethink territorial organisation to bring essential services and facilities closer to residents. It pushes us to design a more coherent and accessible city, where every intervention in urban space (whether buildings, infrastructure, or public spaces) helps improve quality of life and promotes more sustainable mobility.”
Achieving Plan BXL2050 with interactive mapping
The 10-minute city is a core element of the City of Brussels’ Communal Sustainable Development Plan Bxl2050. Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach, the plan considers the unique character and context of each district. Among its eight key ambitions is the creation of a ‘city of proximity’, aiming to foster polycentric development across all neighbourhoods. This ensures equal access to essential local services and facilities, which are fundamental to urban quality of life.
To support this vision, an interactive mapping tool has been introduced. It supports the identification of gaps in service provision, guiding strategic decision-making while also serving as a valuable resource for citizens.
The 10-minute city guides our urban planning work by encouraging us to rethink territorial organisation to bring essential services and facilities closer to residents.
Three main goals for the development of the tool:
- Inventory of Brussels services and equipment for territorial knowledge and monitoring;
- Decision support for the administration and policymakers;
- Communication and information for citizens.
With the support of a multidisciplinary academic consortium made up of Belgian universities, the City of Brussels has carried out a comparative study of different approaches to the concept of the ‘city of proximity’, identifying four main thematic categories of proximity services and facilities:
- living environment (green) – places and services that improve the environment;
- living together (yellow) – places and services which encourage social interactions and community life;
- residential economy (blue) – local specialised or general outlets;
- and mobility (purple).
Aligning with real-world usage patterns
The initiative integrates more than 70 local facilities and services, collaborating across city departments and external partners to ensure a comprehensive approach. A heatmap illustrates service availability: the warmer the area, the more facilities and services are accessible within 10 minutes.
To ensure accuracy, the team refined access times for specific facilities based on real-world usage patterns. This adjustment sets a five-minute accessibility threshold for everyday amenities such as glass recycling bins, collective composting sites, micro green spaces, public transport stops, and bike storage boxes.
For larger or less frequently accessed facilities, including green spaces over 3 hectares, secondary schools, senior residences, reception offices, swimming pools, and hospitals, the accessibility threshold is set at 20 minutes.
Turning data into narratives
Alex Pellier, Project Manager of BXLGIS-10-Minute City, has high hopes for the visualised data: “Developing the 10-Minutes City app has shown me how powerful urban data can be when presented effectively. By turning data into a compelling narrative, it provides decision-makers with the insights they need to plan, adapt, and shape urban environments that truly serve the needs of residents.”
While the interactive mapping tool provides valuable insights into the availability of facilities and services, it cannot assess their quality or capacity. This means further evaluation is needed to ensure equitable service provision across the city. Designed to support city officers and decision-makers, the platform aids in urban development, planning, and diagnostic work by enhancing territorial knowledge and identifying gaps in essential services. To ensure accuracy, the tool is complemented by the field expertise of relevant departments, allowing for a more comprehensive and informed approach to city planning.
By turning data into a compelling narrative, it provides decision-makers with the insights they need to plan, adapt, and shape urban environments that truly serve the needs of residents.
Future developments will expand the tool’s capabilities. One key improvement will be foresight and impact assessment, allowing the platform to evaluate how new services influence accessibility and urban dynamics. Another focus will be tracking urban evolution, enabling the tool to monitor changes in points of interest over time, such as the creation of new green spaces or the introduction of additional facilities. These enhancements will help refine urban planning strategies and support data-driven decision-making to create a more inclusive and accessible city.
The beta version of the interactive mapping tool is publicly available here where users can easily locate facilities and services accessible within a 10-minute walk from any point in the city.
For more information on implementing 15-minute cities, discover Forthcoming (Fostering the City of Proximity through MaaS Integration), an EU project that Eurocities is part of. Funded by the DUT Partnership and Innoviris Brussels, the project aims to develop and test data-driven, user-centric models for adapting 15-minute city principles in suburban areas.
