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Life in capital cities like Paris, London, and New York is seen as glamorous and exciting 鈥� the city is where it all happens, from business to nightlife.

The coronavirus pandemic changed that. The last 18-months saw travel, offices, and social lives shut down.

In that time, we鈥檝e been forced to reimagine our lives, and as we look to a post-pandemic future this could fundamentally change what our cities look like.

Paris mayor Ann Hidalgo has proposed one idea: the 15-minute city. Her idea is a network of neighborhoods that provide inhabitants with everything they need within a 15-minute catchment area, from shops and restaurants to parks and workspaces.聽

Before the pandemic, the commute was compulsory and working from home was a luxury. Covid changed that. In December 2020,聽聽of Americans who were able to work from home were.

鈥淚t鈥檚 almost like a real-world experiment, and we had no choice,鈥� explains David Hensher, Professor of Management and Founding Director of the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies at the University of Sydney Business School.

Of those remote workers, 54% said they wanted to continue working from home after the pandemic. Since then, companies like Amazon and Microsoft have assured staff they鈥檒l be able to work from home regularly, and it鈥檚 now widely accepted that the working week consists of both in-person and remote work.

鈥淣ow, depending on your occupation and the job you do, you could potentially work anywhere in the world,鈥� says Professor Hensher. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the unintended positive consequence of Covid.鈥�

Professor Hensher聽estimates office capacity will never reach more than 80% of what it was before. In the UK, as in-office headcount expectations decrease, accounting firm KPMG has announced plans to permanently聽聽its Manchester office, while competitor Deloitte is closing聽听辞蹿蹿颈肠别蝉.

The pandemic has broken the link between the office and work, creating the possibility to rethink our lives and what our cities look like. Gone might be the days where floods of commuters shuttled in and out of major cities on a daily basis.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about getting rid of a routine and way of living that doesn鈥檛 make sense for us,鈥� says Roxana Bobulescu, Associate Professor at Grenoble School of Management and expert in alternative ways of living.

鈥淚f our way of life is no longer making sense, perhaps it鈥檚 time to consider alternatives.鈥�

Cities usually revolve around a central business district (CBD), the commercial hub where the majority of people work and commute into.

New York City鈥檚 Midtown Manhattan is the largest CBD in the world. In 2019, Times Square subway station, one of a number of stations in midtown, was used by聽聽people. But the new hybrid work system means fewer commuters, reducing the focus on CBDs as the main place of work.聽

鈥淭he CBD will still be important as an office space, but it鈥檒l become home to a mixture of activities,鈥� says Professor Hensher, 鈥渟ome of that office space could become apartments or leisure facilities.鈥�

Changing the way CBDs operate means cities could become decentralised, with people鈥檚 workspaces no longer concentrated in one area.聽

Reimaging urban living now that commuters have the option to largely work from home means the 15-minute city makes sense on paper. It also has a number of benefits.

Associate Professor聽Bobulescu believes it could help cities become more eco-friendly. 15-minute cities would rely less on public transport, reducing congestion and creating less pollution. They鈥檇 also become self-sufficient and more capable of dealing with issues like a global pandemic.

鈥淲e have to build resilience to become less dependent on long distance travelled commerce,鈥� she says, 鈥渞esilience is important, especially when you think of a pandemic.鈥澛�

Changing a big capital city like Paris or London into a cluster of 15-minute cities would have its drawbacks, thinks Laetitia Mimoun, Lecturer at City University of London鈥檚 Business School and an expert in liquid lifestyles.聽

鈥淚f you had really self-sufficient communities, there would be a huge loss in terms of the creativity and innovation which comes from large scale synergies and big cities,鈥� she thinks.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 have the same flows and mixing of ideas within small self-sufficient units as in metropolises like Paris or London.鈥澛�

But, Laetitia believes the shift聽would聽increase overall quality of life, with less time spent commuting and more time spent in lively suburban areas.

鈥淚t could rejuvenate and revitalise the suburbs,鈥� she says, 鈥渟uburbs could become lively, inclusive, and dynamic places.鈥�

The growing number of third-party coworking spaces globally鈥攅xpected to聽聽by 2024鈥攊s a step towards a multi-centered city. But bringing the vision to life requires government help.聽

15-minute cities need investment in suburban infrastructure to work, involving lots of small-scale changes鈥攑edestrianised roads or new pathways for example鈥攔ather than large infrastructure projects. This creates difficulties, thinks Professor Hensher.

鈥淧oliticians normally like big projects because they find them easier to cost and benefit from,鈥� he says. Investment in suburban infrastructure is also a long process, one governments don鈥檛 always prioritise when election terms last for four or five years.聽

But there are signs of change. 鈥淕overnments are starting to ask what investments they need to start putting into the suburbs, which they鈥檝e generally neglected, that can improve the wellbeing of people living there,鈥� Professor Hensher explains.

Pandemic-induced lockdowns around the world also saw global daily emissions fall, by as much as聽聽from April 2019 to April 2020. The heightened focus on the climate crisis this brought means radical social changes have more chance of being listened to than they did before.

鈥淭he advantage of a crisis is it reveals the alternatives,鈥� says Associate Professor Bobulescu. 鈥淭he seeds are there, and they鈥檒l grow little by little.鈥澛�

Whether the idea of the 15-minute city takes off post-pandemic is yet to be seen. However, Professor Hensher's 鈥榰nintended positive consequences of Covid鈥� saw our relationships with work and the environment change. And the signs are our relationship with city life might be about to follow.

This article was first published on BusinessBecause as ''.

David Hensher is a Professor of Management聽and Founding Director of the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies at the University of Sydney Business School.