15-minute communities: Can Queensland do it?
Close your eyes and imagine a close-knit community, where everything you need is a 15-minute walk or ride away.
It’s the urban-planning concept that would theoretically avoid sprawl, reduce road congestion, and improve mental well-being. But how realistic are 15-minute communities, and how far off is Queensland from reaping the benefits?
The idea is simple – if everything you need, from grocery shops to the doctors, gyms, and coffee shops, are all within a 15-minute walk or ride away, there’ll be fewer cars on local roads and major transport routes.
Take inner city Brisbane suburbs like West End, South Brisbane, or Fortitude Valley for example. There’s everything you need tightly tucked in the suburb, meaning you could theoretically run all your errands, get lunch, and relax in the park without even getting in the car.
And now, with more people taking advantage of pandemic-induced flexible working hours, the chance to work from home has pushed the idea of 15-minute communities even further forward.
New developments such as the Aura project in Sunshine Coast have started to reflect the concept by creating a community hub that gives residents everything they need in their little bubble, located just half an hour from the main drag of the coast.
But there are glaring obstacles stopping parts of Queensland from taking advantage of close-knit communities. In southeast Queensland, the urban layout is hard to reverse and has already fallen subject to sprawl between Brisbane and its coastal hotspots.
With sprawl comes more reason to travel, which is why motorways between Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast tend to look like a car park most days. Restructuring these areas could take years and would require plenty of long-term planning.
As for north Queensland and most other rural or regional areas, public transport needs to be improved substantially before people can even think about leaving their cars at home. For now, many Queensland cities don’t come close to the idyllic New-York-style walking epicentre.
But with the theory starting to gain traction across the globe, and new local developments already implementing components, there’s still hope for 15-minute communities in the Sunshine State.