International Workplace Group on The 15-Minute Commute

International Workplace Group (IWG), the largest provider of flexible workspaces, with over 3,500 locations in 1,200 towns and cities in over 123 countries worldwide, recently published a white paper titled “The 15 Minute Commute.” Backed up by new research conducted with FTSE 250 companies, the report shows how the new planning concept of the 15-Minute City, now being adopted worldwide, can help make the hybrid working paradigm a long-lasting reality.

“Just when local cities and towns seemed to be dying, COVID-19 may have come along and saved them,” said Mark Dixon, Founder and CEO of IWG. “The realization of the 15-Minute Commute will be one of the pandemic's most dramatic and long-lasting legacies. What were previously sleepy dormitory towns are set to become vibrant centers for work and community life.”

With the pandemic-fueled lockdowns, people all over the world rediscovered the joy of their local neighborhoods. Working from home and avoiding a commute saves workers an average of 50 minutes each way and significant money. Additionally, the white paper notes that local small businesses are seeing revitalization as people spend more time and money in their own neighborhoods.

And workers aren’t so eager to go back to the old ways. In a survey by IWG in November 2020, 77% of employees said a place to work closer to home would be a must-have for their next job move.

Even before the pandemic, people realized that spending so much time in transit was no way to live. The idea of the 15-Minute City was primarily developed by French academic Carlos Moreno, who described the concept as “a place where work, home, shops, entertainment, education and healthcare are all available by foot or bicycle within the same time a commuter might once have waited on a train platform.”

“We need to reinvent the idea of urban proximity,” said Moreno. “We know it is better for people to work near to where they live and, if they can go shopping nearby and have the leisure and services they need around them too, it allows them to have a more tranquil existence.”

As city leaders and planners contemplate how to satisfy the changing needs of a post-COVID populus, the idea of the environmentally friendly, sustainable, health-enhancing 15-Minute City is finding support worldwide. The IWG white paper notes that cities like Paris, Milan, Edinburgh, Madrid, Portland, Detroit and New York City are all working on developing the concept.

“In the future, big cities will need to provide not only all the amenities that people need but also a blend of accommodation so that workers can work and live in close proximity,” said Dixon.

Perhaps one of the most significant factors in achieving the concept of the 15-Minute City is answering the question: where will people work? Hybrid working is now generally accepted as the primary model for the future of work. While many people think of the hybrid working model as a dichotomy — working from home and in a corporate office — IWG points out that there is a growing awareness around a third option: working from a flexible workspace close to home. This is often referred to as a ‘hub-and-spoke’ model, which offers workers the option of working in a satellite office closer to home.

New research by IWG has found that “three times the number of FTSE 250 companies are currently looking to use a hybrid model compared to those intending to carry on in the same way as pre-pandemic. As a result, businesses are reassessing their office space, with 38% downsizing across the board and 42% looking to either move to or invest in a shared office.”

The white paper notes that this hub-and-spoke model offers a win-win for everyone involved. For companies looking to invest in flexible satellite workspaces, the hub-and-spoke model can save money on fixed real estate costs while allowing employees to work in a modern, professional and well-equipped setting. The hybrid model also opens up the labor pool and provides more jobs for people in local communities.

“Why should companies go to the expense of providing prestige office accommodation in city centers when their people have been proven in recent months to be just as effective and productive elsewhere – not just at home, but also in offices ‘around the corner?’” said Dixon.

Now, with the hub-and-spoke flexible workspace model becoming more widely accepted, IWG notes that a new paradigm is coming: the ‘15-Minute Commute.’ Earlier this year, IWG collaborated with the Advance Strategy Practice of global design and consulting firm B+H to get a sense of what the world of the 15-Minute Commute might look like. B+H created a ‘City Mind Map’ to show how the concept of the 15-Minute Commute is part of an intersecting system that incorporates work, play, eating, well-being, shopping, learning and contributing to society.

“We need to have great flexible workspaces available within a 15-minute circle of where people want to be,” said Doug Demers, senior managing principal at B+H. “There’s tremendous opportunity for entrepreneurs because suddenly people aren’t emptying out of the neighborhood and going into the city for 12 hours of the day.”