We’re all familiar with the community, health and sustainability benefits that come with the idea of the 15-minute city. Well, Sweden is bringing that even closer, focusing on the city life within 1 minute of your front door. Like Sydney’s alfresco dining initiatives, Sweden’s Streets mission addresses public space and participation, building a scalable toolkit for reimagining all the country’s streets as convivial and adaptable shared public spaces. It is a bold plan to reclaim and retrofit city streets for the varying needs of the communities, starting at the scale of a parking lot yet ultimately aiming to transform every street in the country.

Dan Hill, Director of Strategic Design for Swedish national innovation body, Vinnova, explains the pilot and the bigger vision behind it — including its origins in several Australian projects that Dan’s been part of over the last decade. He was joined in conversation by Sacha Coles, Director of Aspects Studios and Adjunct Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Technology Sydney. (Recorded 29 June 2021)