UTTRI associated faculty Professor Steven Farber discusses his research on liveable neighbourhoods in a recent Globe and Mail article examining whether the “15 minute city,” where residents can access key amenities within 15 minutes of their homes, could work in Canada.
Lower-income neighbourhoods on the edges of the city are less likely to own vehicles, making access to amenities challenging. Research from Steven Farber at University of Toronto Scarborough shows such households participate in 0.6 activities per day compared to 1.1 for those who own vehicles. “Over a long period of time, that can have really significant consequences for health, quality of life, income and potential,” Dr. Farber says.
“The 15-minute city aims to build more liveable neighbourhoods. In Canada, only 23 per cent of urban dwellers live in this type of area,” Globe and Mail online, November 23, 2020 [paywall].