InPUT

InPUT argues that peri-urban conditions cannot be reduced to a generic type, developing a typological classification for these areas according to their spatial and demographic characteristics and differentiating their main proximity, accessibility and liveability challenges. In parallel, we move the 15-minute city discussion beyond technical and design problems to also examine social aspects. This includes governance capacities, which influence investments and priorities, and the values and aspirations of local inhabitants, which determine what constitutes ‘their’ 15-minute city and the desirability of the transformations. 

Accordingly, in the first stage, the project works with local stakeholders to analyse spatial, functional and mobility needs, institutional conditions and community aspirations. In a second stage, that shared knowledge is used to co-design spatial visions and strategic transformations that enable more liveable peri-urban environments. Meanwhile, the project develops criteria to evaluate the performance of these visions along principles of wellbeing, sustainability and inclusion. By 'opening up' discussion spaces to various voices but also 'closing down' towards robust, aspirational visions of the future, we provide conceptual models transferable between locations and practical visions grounded in specific sites. For that purpose we investigate peri-urban case studies in the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Portugal. 

Our approach to European peri-urban territories brings policy and research innovation at the level of transdisciplinary integration beyond a technical focus, by embedding social and institutional aspects into 15-minute city visions and strategies; local participation beyond top-bottom replicability, by having stakeholders co-define the bundle of needs that materialises a 15-minute city; and conceptual differentiation, by designing not one but many viable, locally fitting 15-minute cities and transformation pathways to achieve them.

The project will deliver a catalogue of spatial, institutional and social conditions, needs and potentials of peri-urban areas, a series of spatial visions and transformation strategies for place-specific models of proximity, accessibility and liveability, and a set of newly developed indicators to assess the performance and prospects of these visions and strategies. By doing that in a locally grounded and participatory manner, we contribute with results that different peri-urban areas can not only implement, manage and benefit from, but also aspire, co-design and recognise as their own.