Source: Visual Capitalist
By Charlotte Jennings
Ever wondered where in the world key amenities are within a short walk? Forty-five of the world’s most walkable cities are located in Europe (Bruno et al., 2024). A walkable city is often defined as a city where you can walk to key amenities, like grocery stores, pharmacies, and schools. More specifically, the concept of a “15-minute city” asserts that cities can function more effectively, equitably, and sustainably if key amenities are within a 15-minute walk or bike ride. Walkable cities not only make daily errands easy, but they also encourage more physical activity and foster community.
Many cities across the globe already follow this model. A 2024 study ranked cities with more than 500,000 residents based on: 1) the average time to walk to key amenities, and 2) the share of residents within a 15-minute walk of key amenities. Visual Capitalist took the study’s top 20 most walkable cities and turned them into a map.
So, what is the world’s most walkable city? According to this study, it’s Milan, Italy. The average Milanese only needs to walk for seven minutes to reach key amenities, and 98% of Milan’s population lives in a 15-minute neighborhood. However, Italian cities don’t dominate the top 20. France is the country with the most walkable cities in the top 20: Lyon, Paris, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Lille (The Economist, 2025).
Expanding the list to the top 50 most walkable cities, Europe still outpaces the rest of the world. However, Asia is the only other continent to feature on the ranking. Kyoto, Japan is the most walkable non-European city, ranked 28th in the world. Other Asian cities on the list are: Taipei, Taiwan (35th), Kathmandu, Nepal (45th), and Tokyo, Japan (50th). No North American cities are in the top 50, though Vancouver, Canada ranks 53rd. In the United States, Manhattan is highly walkable, but other boroughs of New York City are not.
Walkability may seem simple, but urban development and layout are anything but. Within cities, proximity times can vary significantly. Walkability measures the average distance to key amenities, but the average doesn’t take into account the possible variation. For example, cities like Paris and Barcelona have wide 15-minute accessibility, but cities like Rome, Atlanta, and Mexico City have large areas where residents must travel much further. In less walkable cities, this downtown clustering is very common; downtown residents have 15-minute accessibility, but as you leave downtown, you leave walkability behind. A 15-minute city also does not take into account the quality of resources available: neighborhoods might technically have resources in close proximity, but that doesn’t matter if they don’t function properly or fulfill the needs of the area (Bruno et al., 2024).
Source: Bruno, M. et al.
Walkability does not exist in a vacuum. Cities develop differently, for different needs, different communities, and different geographies. Factors including population density, economic focus, and local history play into the complicated tapestry that makes up each individual city. Atlanta was originally the southern terminus for a railroad traveling into the American midwest in 1826. Barcelona was founded over 2,000 years ago, and its earliest settlement is uncertain. Mexico City was founded as the Spanish colonial capital on the ruins of the Mexica city-state of Tenochtitlan.
In recent years, sustainability has become a much more visible and vital concern for cities. As cities continue to grow and change, the challenge is not just improving metrics—like walkability— but also understanding what those metrics mean. The differences between cities are what make them interesting. It would be boring if all cities were the same. Urban planning and sustainability are not and cannot be solved with just one approach because reality is more complicated than that.
References
Bruno, M. et al. (2024, September 16). A universal framework for inclusive 15-minute cities. Nature Cities 1, 633-641. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-024-00119-4.
The Economist. (2025, February 7). What can the world’s most walkable cities teach other places? https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2025/02/07/what-can-the-worlds-most -walkable-cities-teach-other-places?fsrc=core-app-economist.
Zhu, K. (2025, March 9). Mapped: The Most Walkable Cities in the World. Visual Capitalist. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-the-most-walkable-cities-in-the-world/.