Re-inventing our neighbourhoods and High Streets - is why we back the “15 Minute neighbourhoods” concept.

Over the last few years our work at SajeImpact and the Sports Think Tank has moved as evidence and policy shifts have given us a great opportunity to think more about Physical Activity and economic regeneration and wellbeing - and thus has come together during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

The changes in work practises and shopping habits (changing over a longer period of time of course), and the continued debate about the future og the High Street are popular at the moment. The decline of the daily commute and the governments failed drive at the end of Summer to get people back into our cities has drawn attention to the possibility that there is a different way to live our lives.

It does not mean these changes are easy or without pain - but what if we could embrace the end of the commute into the City and help regenerate our local neighbourhood. What if we could reshape the declining retail High Street with a far more inviting leisure, recreational and retail offer? What if?

The 15-Minute neighbourhood is not a new concept - its has been around for a long time and has probably been mostly associated with the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo in more recent years. Is the post Covid world the opportunity to create a win - win? Regenerate our local economic communities whilst rebuilding our patterns of physical activity back into our daily routines. If everything we need or our lives is within a 15 minute walk why would we need to jump in the car. This is a great guide = Famous for 15 Minutes

In this useful Blog we can see the 7 Rules for creating the 15-minute neighbourhood. What can you do out of this list?

The 15-minute neighbourhood involves a menu of policy actions that provide residents access to most, if not all, of their needs within a short walk or bike ride from their home. 

Based upon four pillars, proximity, diversity, density and ubiquity, 15-minute policies transform urban spaces into connected and self-sufficient (or ‘complete’) neighbourhoods.

Reducing car use and encouraging active travel are central to delivering the 15-minute vision.

The 15-minute neighbourhood serves as an organising principle for urban development and urban life that makes life more liveable for residents, by improving air quality and making neighbourhoods safer, quieter, more diverse, inclusive and economically vibrant.

It requires a move towards a more decentralised and devolved planning framework that understands in granular detail the unique characteristics of each neighbourhood and encourages development that will demonstrably improve the quality of life of the residents in those neighbourhoods. 

In the UK, there are relatively few examples of planning policies and interventions that nurture 15-minute neighbourhoods, but the low traffic neighbourhoods being pioneered in Waltham Forest and Sheffield – and those planned for Bristol, Bath, Manchester and other cities – are tentative first steps.

During Lockdown the initial burst of enthusiasm for sport and physical activity has not been maintained so I realise this may not be as easy to achieve as we once thought. But we have to do things differently to regenerate our economic and social wellbeing. Where better to start than imagining a renewed neighbourhood that builds the public realm and space back into our lives. This agenda excites us and in 2021 we will be announcing a new partnerships to develop this thinking further. and what it will mean for our work on sport and activity. We are not pushing against the latest direction of the newly emerging Sport England strategy. At SajeImpact and the Sports Think Tank we have been on a similar journey for the last decade. We are much less about sport for its own good and much more about its contribution to society, and how it forms a small part of the wider inactivity timebomb.

I recall in a meeting this summer talking about what an active community might look like I had to cite my own neighbourhood. Within a 5 minute walk I have a safe and well used park. We have a Post office, dentist, local stores, coffee shops, restaurants, pubs and public transport into the main urban centres on a regular basis. There are well maintained public footpaths and access to the country side all within the 15 minutes. We have always walked to school with our children (to be fair a 20 mins walk when they were younger and smaller) We live here and will stay here because of all this. It makes living locally so easy and our wellbeing is boosted by our levels of activity as a consequence!

In my voluntary roles with the Sports Think Tank and the local economic regeneration community in Leicestershire at the LLEP I will be championing our local communities being up for this challenge! We will rebuild after Covid-19 but hopefully in a way that builds back better and rejects the squeezing of community and active travel out of our lives.

There will be many practical and policy developments that will flow from these thoughts but it is important as we end 2020 that we set out the continued shift in philosophy towards a more holistic approach to wellbeing, economic and activity. It requires all the key agencies at local level to help create the physical space for community to thrive.

As always this is a work in progress. We will be leaning on experts but using our passion and connectivity to make things happen!!