The COVID-19 pandemic has decimated businesses and, as a result, the cities in which we live. But there is a new concept that could change all that: the 15-minute city. But what is it?

Here are five things to know:

  1. The 15-minute city is a concept that a university professor in Paris, Carlos Moreno, came up with.
  2. The concept is pretty simple: To improve the quality of life for city dwellers by making them places where pretty much everything they need can be accessed in less than 15 minutes on foot or by bike. And it’s something that Paris’ mayor is already putting into action.
  3. Here’s how it works: Imagine your home is in the center of a big circle. Everything you need is but 15 minutes away — hence the idea — but with four key important characteristics: proximity, diversity, density and ubiquity.
  4. What’s all that then? Well, it means you can get to school, work, or places to swap, share and re-use the things you don’t need, then the shops. There are places where you can get medical treatment; you can travel to other destinations easily, spaces for you to play in, sports and recreation, and then, of course, great places to eat — all within 15 minutes of where you live! There also are green spaces to stretch out, followed by places to experience culture and engage with others.
  5. And there’s nothing like a global pandemic for us all to start realizing that we don’t really know our neighbors and to also rediscover, by walking, how interesting the area we live in is. Many studies have been made showing the mental health and social impact of COVID on us all, and they point to how something like 15-minute cities could really help us all to be happier by being more connected to each other, recognizing each other as locals instead of being faceless members of a huge megacity!
  6. But hang on — like any cool idea — there are always some challenges. How do you make sure that diversity happens, mixing up cultures instead of ghettoizing and gentrifying? How do you make property affordable for all income levels? But that’s always been an issue. Now Madrid, Milan, Seattle, Ottawa and Portland are all striving to make this inner-city nirvana a reality the world over.
  7. The future looks pretty exciting for this grand idea, and LA is already part of a global group dedicated to pushing it forward. But whatever you make of it, it’s clear that COVID-19 didn’t just make our lives worse; it helped us think outside the box for new and exciting ways to live better lives, too.