Growing up, we probably all envisaged the city of the future as a shiny towering metropolis, full of flying cars and robots. When fantasy meets reality, however, that vision starts to change. The needs and concerns of the global population, mean that protecting the environment has become the major priority, with a drive to prioritise a fulfilling, healthy lifestyle in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. It is these trends that will shape the way our cities look and feel, rather than an ever-increasing skyline of skyscrapers and an over-reliance on technology.

This leads into the idea of the 15-minute city, pioneered by Professor Carlos Moreno, who is based at the Pantheon Sorbonne University in Paris. The notion reimagines the layout of a city as a series of interconnected self-contained neighbourhoods, where all of the amenities necessary for everyday life — work, shopping, restaurants, green spaces, cultural venues, and so on — are no more than a 15-minute walk or cycle aw