Between neighborhood convenience and metropolitan opportunity: Residential narratives on the "15-minute City" lifestyle in Warsaw
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/bgss-2026-0014Keywords
urban studies, spatial accessibility, life quality, 15-minute City, neighborhood convenience, WarsawAbstract
In this work, we center the importance of residential narrative in communicating about the “15-minute City” concept by presenting and interpreting the results of a local survey investigating interrelations between: neighborhood-level availability and accessibility to services and amenities; perceived quality of life; and place attachment, this last often being disregarded in this concept. The results, based on qualitative research carried out in Warsaw, document strong links between the first two, with the primary observed benefits being time- and effort-saving, followed by advantages concerning general life comfort, safety and walkability. Regarding place attachment, we identify a division of residents into the categories “stayers” and “movers”, which define their attitude irrespective of neighborhood convenience and quality of life perceived. Narratives emphatically attributed availability of public transport infrastructure an important role in contributing to life-quality, revealing the intensity and complexity of spatial interaction linking the neighborhood with the city-cum-metropolitan level. ...
References
Alexander, C. (2002). The nature of order: The process of creating life. Taylor and Francis, The Centre for Environmental Structure.
Allam, Z., Bibri, S.E., Chabaud, D., & Moreno, C. (2022a). The ‘15 Minute’ concept can shape a net-zero urban future. Humanities and Social Science Communications, 9(1), 26–38. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01045-5
Allam, Z., Nieuwenhuisen, M., Chabaud, D., & Moreno, C. (2022b). The 15-minute city offers a new framework for sustainability, liveability, and health. The Lancet Planetary Health, 6(3), 181–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00036-7
Altman, I., & Low, S.M. (Eds.). (1992). Place attachment. Plenum Press.
Andrews, F.M., & Withey, S.B. (1976). Social indicators of well-being: Americans’ perception of life quality. Plenum Press.
Berry, B.J.L. (1964). Cities as systems within systems of cities. Papers, Regional Science Association, 13, 147–164. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01942566
Berry, B.J.L. (1967). Geography of market centers and retail distribution. Prentice Hall.
Blomquist, G.C., Berger, M.C., & Hoehn, J.P. (1988). New estimates of quality of life in urban areas. The American Economic Review, 78(1), 89–107.
Bretagnolle, A., & Pumain, D. (2010). Simulating urban networks through multiscalar space-time dynamics: Europe and United States, 17th-20th centuries. Urban Studies, 47(13), 2818–2839. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098010377366
Broemmelstroet, M.T., Nikolaeva, A., Mladenovic, M., Milakis, D., Ferreira, A., Verlinghieri, E., Cadima, C., de Abrue e Silva, J., & Papa, C. (2022). Have a good trip! Expanding our concepts of the quality of everyday travelling with flow theory. Applied Mobilities, 7(4), 352–373. https://doi.org/10.1080/23800127.2021.1954367
Calthorpe, P. (1989). The pedestrian pocket. In D. Kelbeugh (Ed.), The pedestrian pocket book.
Campbell, A., Converse, P.E., & Rodgers, W.L. (1976). The quality of American life: Perspectives, evaluations and satisfactions. Russel Sage Foundation.
Cao, X. (2016). How does neighborhood design affect life satisfaction? Evidence from twin cities. Travel Behaviour and Society, 5, 68–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tbs.2015.07.001
Christaller, W. (1933). Die zentralen Orte in Sueddeutschland (The central places in southern Germany – in German). Gustav Fischer Verlag.
Clark, W.A.V. (1982). Modeling housing market search. Crom Helm.
Compasso Da Silva, D., King, D.A., & Lemar, S. (2020). Accessibility in practice: 20-minute city as a sustainability planning goal. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12, Article 129. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12010129
Curry, L. (1960). The geography of service centers within towns: The elements of an operational approach. In K. Norborg (Ed.), Proceedings of the I.G.U. Symposium in Urban Geography (Vol. 24, pp. 31–53). Gleerup.
Demographic Yearbook of Poland. (2022). Statistics Poland.
Ferris, A.L. (2004). The quality of life concept in sociology. American Sociologist, 35, 37–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12108-004-1005-5
Florida, R., Mellander, C., & Rendfrow, P.J. (2011). The happiness of cities. Regional Studies, 47(4), 613–627. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2011.589830
Gehl, J. (2010). Cities for people. Island Press.
Gieryn, T.F. (2006). City as truth-spot: Laboratories and field sites in urban studies. Social Studies of Science, 36(1), 5–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312705054526
Haegerstrand, T. (1970). What about people in regional science? Papers of the Regional Science Association, 24, 7–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01936872
Handy, S.L., & Niemeier, D.A. (1977). Measuring accessibility: An exploration of issues and alternatives. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 29(7), 1175–1194. https://doi.org/10.1068/a271175
Howard, E. (1965). Garden cities of to-morrow. The M.I.T. Press. (Original work published 1898)
Jacobs, J. (1961). The life and death of great American cities. Random House.
Jensen, O.B., Martin, M., & Loechtefeld, M. (2021). Pedestrians as floating life – On the reinvention of the pedestrian city. Emotion, Space and Society, 41, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2021.100842
Jeter, H.R. (1929). Analyzing the growth of the city. In T.V. Smith & L.D. White (Eds.), Chicago: An experiment in social science research (pp. 67–77). University of Chicago Press.
Korcelli-Olejniczak, E. (2020). Małe miasta północno-wschodniej Polski. Lokalne areny zmian ludności i funkcji (Small towns in north-eastern Poland: Local arenas of population and functional change – in Polish) (Studia, 4(1966)). Polska Akademia Nauk, K.P.Z.K.
Korcelli-Olejniczak, E., & Tammaru, T. (2019). Social diversity and social interaction: Community integration and disintegration in inner-city districts of Tallinn and Warsaw. Mitteilungen der Oesterreichischen Geographischen Gesellschaft (Annals of the Austrian Geographical Society), 161, 91–115. https://doi.org/10.1553/moegg161s91
Krier, L. (2014). Leon Kier on sustainable urbanism and the legible city. Architectural Review. https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/leon-kier-on-sustainable-urbanism-and-the-legible-city
Layard, R. (2005). Happiness: Lessons from a new science. Penguin Books.
Levinson, D. (2020). The 30-minute city: Designing for access. Network Design Lab.
Lewicka, M. (2008). Place attachment, place identity, and place memory: Restoring the forgotten city past. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 28(3), 203–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2008.02.001
Leyden, K.M., Hogan, M.J., D’Arcy, L., Bunting, B., & Bierema, S. (2024). Walkable neighborhoods: Linkages between place, health, and happiness in younger and older adults. Journal of the American Planning Association, 90(1), 101–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2023.2183866
Leyden, K.M., Goldberg, A., & Michelbach, P. (2011). Understanding the pursuit of happiness in ten major cities. Urban Affairs Review, 47(6), 861–888. https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087411413120
Lundkvist, A. (2025). Researcher reflections from an urban lab: Best practices and barriers of walkable urbanism via a 15-minute neighbourhood lens in Warsaw. Cities & Health, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2025.2508662
Martin, R.L. (2000). Local labour markets: Their nature, performance and regulation. In G.L. Clark, M.P. Feldman, & M.S. Gertler (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of economic geography (pp. 455–476). Oxford University Press.
Moreno, C. (2024). The 15-minute city: A solution to saving our time and our planet. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781394308774
Moreno, C., Allam, Z., Chabaud, D., Gall, C., & Pratlong, F. (2021). Introducing the “15-Minute City”: Sustainability, resilience and place identity in future post-pandemic cities. Smart Cities, 4, 93–111. https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities4010006
Moreno, D. (2016). La ville du quart d’heure: pour un nouveau chrono-urbanisme (The quarter-hour city: For a new chrono-urbanism – in French). La Tribune.
Mowrer, E.R. (1927). Family disorganization. University of Chicago Press.
Nijkamp, P., & Perrels, A. (1994). Sustainable cities in Europe. Earthscan.
Perry, C.A. (1929). The neighborhood unit: A scheme of arrangement for the family-life community. Neighborhood Community Plan. Community Regional Plan for New York and Its Environs, 7, 2–140.
Peters, D.J. (2019). Community resilience in declining small towns: Impact of population loss on quality of life over 20 years. Rural Sociology, 84, 635–668. https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12268
Peters, J., Hamideh, S., Zarecor, K.E., & Ghandour, M. (2018). Using entrepreneurial social infrastructure to understand smart shrinkage in small towns. Journal of Rural Studies, 64, 39–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2018.10.001
Pozoukidou, G., & Chatziyiannaki, Z. (2021). 15-Minute City: Decomposing the new urban planning eutopia. Sustainability, 13, Article 928. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020928
Quigley, J.M. (1998). Urban diversity and economic growth. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 12, 127–138. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.12.2.127
Raymond, C.M., Brown, G., & Weber, D. (2010). The measurement of place attachment: Personal, community and environmental connections. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30(4), 422–434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.08.002
Rogers, A., & Willekens, F.J. (1986). Migration and settlement: A multiregional comparative study. D. Reidel Publishing Company.
Rogers, R. (1998). Cities for a small planet. Faber & Faber.
Sirgy, M.J. (2011). Theoretical perspectives guiding QOL indicator project. Social Indicators Research, 103, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-010-9693-3
Sirgy, M.J., Rahtz, D.R., Cicic, M., & Underwood, R. (2000). A method for assessing residents’ satisfaction with community-based services: A quality of life perspective. Social Indicators Research, 49, 279–316. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006990712553
Smith, R.H.T. (1965). Method and purpose in functional town classification. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 55(3), 539–548. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8306.1965.tb00535.x
Smith, T.V. (1929). Social science research and the community. In T.V. Smith & L.D. White (Eds.), Chicago: An experiment in social science research (pp. 220–247). University of Chicago Press.
Steg, L. (2018). Environmental psychology: An introduction. John Wiley and Sons.
Szymańska, D., Szafrańska, E., & Korolko, M. (2024). The 15-minute city: Assumptions, opportunities and limitations. Bulletin of Geography: Socio-Economic Series, 66(66), 137–151. https://doi.org/10.12775/bgss-2024-0038
Warsaw City Hall. (2024). Barometr Warszawski 2023 (The Warsaw Barometer 2023 – in Polish).
Weng, M., Ding, N., Li, J., Jin, X., Xiao, H., He, Z., & Su, S. (2019). The 15-minute walkable neighborhoods: Measurement, social inequalities and implications for building healthy communities in urban China. Journal of Transportation and Health, 13, 259–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2019.05.005
White, L.D. (1929). The local community research committee and the social science research building. In T.V. Smith & L.D. White (Eds.), Chicago: An experiment in social science research (pp. 20–32). University of Chicago Press.
Willberg, E., Fink, C., & Toivonen, T. (2023). The 15-minute city for all? Measuring individual and temporal variations in walking accessibility. Journal of Transport Geography, 106, Article 103521, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2022.103521
Winters, J.V. (2013). Differences in quality of life estimates using rents and home values. Annals of Regional Science, 51, 377–409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-012-0540-4
Winters, J.V., & Li, Y. (2017). Urbanization, natural amenities and subjective well-being: Evidence from US counties. Urban Studies, 47, 1956–1973. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098016688457
Zahnow, R. (2023). Place type or place function: What matters for place attachment? American Journal of Community Psychology, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12722
Zipf, G.K. (1949). Human behavior and the principle of least effort. Addison-Wesley.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Annika Lundkvist, Ewa Korcelli-Olejniczak
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Title, logo and layout of journal Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series are reserved trademarks of Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series.Stats
Number of views and downloads: 48
Number of citations: 0
