Transition Pathways for Urban Provisioning Systems Toward 15-minute Cities

Everyday life depends on access to essential goods and services such as housing, education, work, care, and leisure. These are provided through essential provisioning systems – the ways in which societies organise, govern, and deliver what people need to live well. For young people in particular, access to these systems is often uneven and fragile, and they are frequently excluded from planning and decision-making processes.

T-PATH-UP15 explores the relationship between mobility and access to essential provisioning systems from the perspective of young people aged 18–25. Rather than treating mobility as an end in itself, the project understands it as a crucial link between everyday needs and their satisfaction, shaping how young people access opportunities and participate in social life.

The project uses a Systems-of-Provision approach to explore which essential provisioning systems matter most to young people, how they access them in everyday life, how these systems are organised and governed, how young people experience and make sense of them, and how they work together to shape mobility and access to essential services.

We combine surveys, interviews, and workshops with young people to capture lived experiences, alongside analysis of how relevant systems and policies currently operate. The research is conducted across different regions in Europe – Austria, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Slovenia. Regional stakeholder forums are established as long-term partners in the research, bringing together civic, public, private, and research actors. These forums work closely with young people in co-producing an understanding of current barriers, identifying policy improvements, as well as radical visions for the future and “next-best steps” to get there. This co-productive approach is also a form of capacity building, supporting young people and stakeholders to learn how to engage with one another, share knowledge, and jointly shape more just, inclusive, and sustainable provisioning systems.

T‑PATH‑UP15 delivers tools and co‑created insights that enable researchers to study mobility through a participatory systems‑of‑provision approach, support youth‑led mobility transitions by equipping public authorities and local partners with transition pathways linking mobility to essential services, and empower young people with skills in systems thinking, collaboration, and advocacy.

Co-investigators:

Professor Paul Chatterton | School of Geography | University of Leeds

Prof. Sara González | School of Geography | University of Leeds

Dr Katy Wright | School of Sociology and Social Policy | University of Leeds

Dr Tom Haines-Doran | Departments | University of Leeds