20-minute neighbourhoods in a Scottish context

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Summary

The Programme for Government 2020 commits the Scottish Government to working with local government and other partners to take forward ambitions for 20 minute neighbourhoods: Places that are designed so residents have the ability to meet the vast majority of their day-to-day needs within a 20 minute walk (approximately 800 metres) of their home; through access to safe walking and cycling routes, or by public transport.

This projects supports this by:

1) Considering the ambition for 20 minute neighbourhoods in Scotland, taking account of the differing settlement patterns across the country, and to highlight interventions that would support delivery of the concept, supported by findings from the baseline analysis.
2) Analysing international evidence of the success of interventions to achieve these ambitions, including identifying specific success factors, place-making impacts, barriers to success, regulatory frameworks, funding mechanisms and stakeholder engagement and buy-in.

It uses five dimensions to capture the features and infrastructure, and quality of services and experience that make up a 20 minute neighbourhood: Stewardship, Civic, Movement, Resources and Spaces. Together these dimensions are used to explore to what extent neighbourhoods across Scotland display characteristics that meet the 20 minute neighbourhood definition.

Features of a 20-minute neighbourhood in the Scottish Context

Introduction

The Programme for Government 2020 commits the Scottish Government to working with local government and other partners to take forward ambitions for 20 minute neighbourhoods. This commitment is also carried through to the draft Infrastructure Investment Plan for Scotland 2021-22 to 2025-26 which identifies three core strategic themes to guide investment; enabling the transition to net zero emissions and environmental sustainability, driving inclusive economic growth, and building resilient and sustainable places.

The desire to deliver the 20 minute neighbourhood ambitions is also identified in the new spatial plan for Scotland to 2050, National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) Position Statement. As noted by the Improvement Service in their recently published Elected Members briefing note:

‘It promotes 20 minute neighbourhoods as a key opportunity and clarifies a desire to guide change in both existing and new places. Importantly, it confirms an ambition to explore how the emphasis on living locally could work in different parts of Scotland, from remote rural communities to cities and towns, taking into account the needs of everyone in society so that equality is built in from the start.’

Methodology

The study established a national baseline to assess how close neighbourhoods in Scotland are to meeting the definition of a 20-minute neighbourhood. This baseline enables progress tracking but does not measure whether people actually use local services. The methodology combined quantitative features (e.g., facilities, services, natural spaces, walkability, cycle networks) with proxy qualitative indicators, scoring each neighbourhood out of 300 and mapping results spatially.

Limitations included gaps in national datasets, reliance on proxy indicators, use of simple 800m radial buffers rather than network-based analysis, and inconsistencies from Output Area boundaries. Despite these, the approach provides a useful framework for future, more detailed local assessments with richer datasets.

Neighbourhoods were categorised into six groups (large urban, other urban, accessible small towns, remote small towns, accessible rural, remote rural) based on population density and accessibility. While not fully aligned with the 20-minute concept, these categories create a practical foundation for comparing different contexts and shaping tailored recommendations.

Establishing a baseline for Scotland

The baselining study assessed how neighbourhoods across Scotland align with the 20-minute neighbourhood concept. Findings show that service provision (quantitative features) is generally higher in urban areas, while community satisfaction (qualitative indicators) tends to be stronger in rural areas. Every type of neighbourhood contained both high- and low-scoring areas, demonstrating that the policy has relevance across Scotland. However, the assessment could not capture walkability barriers or quality-of-experience issues, meaning some areas that score well may not yet function as thriving, accessible neighbourhoods.

When combining quantitative features with qualitative indicators such as outdoor access, perceptions of place, and influence over local decisions, rural areas often scored better, highlighting the sense of ownership in smaller communities. Three case examples illustrate the diversity of results: Tollcross (Edinburgh) scored highly overall but faces barriers in cycling and walking infrastructure; Pitlochry (remote rural) performed well on qualitative indicators but needs improvements in transport and active travel links; and Haghill (Glasgow), a deprived neighbourhood, scored lower due to severance, quality of place, and service accessibility issues.

Overall, the results underline both the potential and challenges of implementing 20-minute neighbourhoods. The concept is applicable across all settlement types, but more detailed, locally grounded studies and improved methods (e.g., network analysis and locally defined boundaries) are needed to propose tailored interventions and truly understand neighbourhood performance.

Figure. 6 (page15) Scottish Government Planning Guidance: Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods – illustration of a small town or village environment as a 20 minute neighbourhood which supports local living

Key Findings

The report sets out five initial ambitions for developing 20 minute neighbourhoods in Scotland:

1. Scotland has the opportunity to be a global leader in delivering this concept across the country, showing that it is feasible in both urban and rural locations
2. Every neighbourhood in Scotland should be facilitated to be a 20 minute neighbourhood
3. Communities should be empowered to make changes in their neighbourhoods to allow them to meet their daily needs in a fair and equitable way
4. This concept should enable people to travel actively in support of their health and well-being, without access being limited by the cost of transport
5. The 20 minute neighbourhood concept should be the ambition that pulls together all other relevant policies in a given location

These ambitions can only be realised through concerted efforts across policy, national and local delivery, and further research.

Recommendations

In order to achieve the ambitions set out above action is needed across policy, national and local delivery, and further research.

POLICY

• Integrate and coordinate policy through the 4th National Planning Framework, rationalising neighbourhood plans (Community Plans, Local Place Plans, Town Centre Action Plans) and challenging the status quo (e.g. housing types, mixed-use, vertical zoning, density in low-density areas).
• Reduce private car journeys by prioritising high-quality active travel infrastructure, reallocating space from cars to walking/cycling, and reimagining public transport (e.g. on-demand, flexible services in rural/urban areas).
• Apply the Sustainable Travel Hierarchy in new/redevelopments, prioritising safe active travel networks over car parking, while ensuring equitable access for vulnerable groups.

DELIVERY APPROACH

• Adopt a dual national-local approach: national level to define the concept, framework, and funding; local level to set ambitions, plan delivery, and drive community participation.
• At national level:
  • Provide clear frameworks, tools, and best practices.
  • Ensure funding supports disadvantaged communities, detailed baselining, and delivery plans.
  • Promote behaviour change around active travel and share knowledge across Scotland.
• At local level:
  • Commit to active community participation in design and delivery.
  • Enable Local Authorities to take ownership, adopt place-based solutions, and potentially work with new powers.

Suggested Citation

O’Gorman, S. and Dillon-Robinson, R. (2021) 20 Minute Neighbourhoods in a Scottish Context, ClimateXChange, Edinburgh, February 2021. https://www.climatexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/cxc-20-minute-neighbourhoods-in-a-scottish-context-march-2021.pdf

Scottish Government (2024) Scottish Government Planning Guidance: Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods. Produced by APS Group Scotland. ISBN: 978-1-83601-177-4.