The Fifteen-Minute Radius Theory

What maintaining a 15 minutes drive lifestyle can mean for us as citizens.

Call it a theory, a way of life, or whatever label it fits to signify what a daily map should one adopt to have a stress free and fulfilled life. This theory of mine defines that whatever daily errand or chore you need to do should be within a 15-minutes-drive radius from your house, otherwise it’ll be an inconvenient chore that doing too much of it will result, in the long run, into a stress factor in your life. Understandably though, in this day and time, it can get difficult to stay within a 15-minute-drive radius from your home. Whether it’s because of living in underdeveloped areas, considering work requirements, meeting loved ones who don’t live close by, or getting to places that are not within the precious radius.

From my personal experiment, staying within that radius added so much value to my life, and reduced my stress level with the reduced road rage I was subjected to. The radius to me represents my community, and it includes the following:

• The gym, 12 minutes from my house.
• My favorite café, 8 minutes away.
• The beach, 10 minutes away (when there’s no traffic).
• My latest business venture, 15 minutes away.
• My daughters; school, 15 minutes away.
• And my favorite wholefood supermarket, 17 minutes away (I stretched in the 2 minutes because of the divine tomatoes they stock).

As a graduate of urban planning studies, I’ve learned that there’s great importance in city planning. This allows a person to reach plenty of destinations from their home with minimal commute time. However, this isn’t easy to achieve in the UAE, because some of the affordable housing options can be in one emirate while the high paying jobs in a whole different emirate, entailing a 1.5 hours commute time to get from one point to another.

I was lucky enough to secure my first job a roundabout away from my home, that’s 12 minutes with early morning traffic. My second job was 7 minutes away, and I’m thankfully still in the same place. Currently, my daily needs fit neatly into that 15-minutes-drive radius; The fact that I don’t need to move beyond that unless by choice has a positive impact on my stress levels.

After getting my driving license at the at the age of 21, I had the giddy enthusiasm of a caged beast blasting out of chains insanely happy with the freedom of getting to wherever I wanted to go to without being a hindrance on anyone, that driving an hour to five hours a day never fazed me. However, after years of doing that, the freedom lost its sparkle and was replaced with the yearn of comfort and being close to home. Now, checking the distance to an errand on google maps and finding out that it’s within radius feels like a triumph.

There is another dimension to the radius you keep. It’s beyond just errands. It can become a citizen responsibility, economically at least. How? The radius is your closest community, the small businesses that grow in it become part of the neighborhood, and their success reflects positively on the neighborhood, which could encourage more successful amenities close by. Whether it’s the closest coop for groceries, the closest cafes, and restaurants, or the nearby events. We have the responsibility to support them to enrich our radius and allow it to prosper.

The radius adjusts when I travel to a more pedestrian-oriented city where the city planning is older than our young 46-year-old country. For example, my radius expands in London to wherever I can reach to and from on foot. I could stay within 5-kilometer radius there without missing out on anything. Everything from groceries to catching plays, and the public transport helps in getting around the city smoothly within a healthy radius.

I hope that in the future there will be better city planning, that the radius will either fill up with more amenities or will expand physically with less traffic so that reaching farther destinations don’t require as much time.