How do we actually transition away from our decades-old "car-focused regime" toward more human-centric, 15-minute cities?

UNLOCK15 is a European consortium featuring academic, research and practice organisations focused on empowering people in European cities to make the 15-Minute City a reality. The project emphasises inclusivity, innovation, and collaborative action in mid-sized European cities.

The project is part of the larger Driving Urban Transitions project, a public-public partnership to facilitate an innovation ecosystem for urban transitions co-funded within the European Research and Innovation (R&I) Framework Programme, Horizon Europe. The partnership started in 2022, building upon and stepping up the ambition and efforts of the Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) Urban Europe.

The 15-Minute City is a vision of urban living where essential services—such as workplaces, schools, healthcare, leisure, and shopping—are within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from home. This concept promotes a sustainable, human-centered approach to urban planning, reducing car dependency and enhancing community well-being.

UNLOCK15 seeks to unlock behavioral, institutional, and technological lock-ins that hinder the transition to the 15-Minute City. Research is vital, but actionable tools are what truly empower citizens and local authorities to break through the behavioral, institutional, and infrastructural "lock-ins" holding us back. This isn’t just a technical puzzle – it is also a social one. Through participatory tools, co-created narratives, and actionable insights, the project aims to shape a sustainable, human-centered urban future.