Mapping desires for cities design: a conceptual framework and methodological roadmap for well-being-centred urban form in the 15-minute city

Abstract

Accessibility is a cornerstone of the ‘15-min city’ (15 MC) concept, yet prior research has largely assessed access to services without examining its links to behaviour. As a result, accessibility-oriented interventions often prioritise basic needs, while desires and wants, frequently tied to emotions and, therefore, to wellbeing, remain insufficiently addressed. In increasingly urbanised societies, urban ecological structures provide critical services by supporting social interaction and enhancing everyday liveability. Despite a gradual shift in wellbeing assessment frameworks from predominantly macroeconomic statistics towards more balanced perspectives that account for lived experiences and conditions, the influence of urban form on residents’ wellbeing remains underexplored. To address this gap, a conceptual framework and methodological roadmap are proposed based on the results of a systematic literature review using the PRISMA guidelines, including a validation component using Public Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS), GIS analysis, and AI-supported evaluation. The resulting conceptual framework proposes a triple-helix roadmap in which morphological aspects, such as accessible built density, access to green and blue spaces, and patterns of pedestrian flow, are integrated with both objective and subjective wellbeing factors. Hedonic and eudaemonic dimensions are considered across city, neighbourhood, and street-block scales. By specifying corresponding indicators across these three dimensions, which can be collected and integrated using emerging methods such as PPGIS and LLMs, the framework addresses the limited literature on multiscale mixed-methods research on the 15 MC. This in return strengthens research and planning practice through improved assessment of how the spatial design of 15MCs shapes residents’ wellbeing