20-minute neighbourhoods: living well locally is the goal for Edinburgh council - Cammy Day

Convenient neighbourhoods where everyone living in them has access to most of their everyday needs within a 20-minutes walk, wheel or cycle – this is the thinking behind our plans to enhance local services across the Capital.

Local town centres across Edinburgh provide a lot of the essential facilities and services that people need to use every day. We know though that these centres could be much more liveable places for both residents and visitors.

That’s why the results of our recent local survey – alongside workshops with local schools and a wide range of community groups – will help us to develop a plan that builds on the area’s best parts to evolve into a thriving place that is healthier, greener and safer for everyone – and helps people move around the local area and wider city more easily.

Being more liveable also means better public spaces with healthy high streets and quality natural spaces for recreation and socialising, which is a key part of our plans around local town centres. Wherever you are in Edinburgh and wherever you choose to go, everyone should feel safe to spend time at all times of the day.

Cammy Day is the leader of Edinburgh City Council

We also want to create more convenient ways of helping you, so that you can always get the right support wherever and however you choose to reach your day-to-day services. That means bringing more of these closer to you, your families and your community wherever you go – and make them easier to reach by walking, wheeling, cycling or public transport.

We are trialling a new community contact team base at Tynecastle Community Wing to better listen to local peoples’ specific needs, provide immediate support and link them straight into the right services. Our team are also visiting council and community buildings in the area to speak with locals to identify any challenges they’re facing and better understand their situation.

This is all part of our plan to support the wellbeing of everyone and end poverty and isolation in Edinburgh.

Another example of what we’re aiming to achieve with our 20-minute neighbourhood approach is under way at Granton Waterfront, where we’re strengthening the existing area with a £1.3bn project to develop a sustainable community. Here, people will live in affordable environmentally-friendly homes, have excellent transport and active travel links to the rest of the city and access to lots of open and green space, arts, education, sports and culture.

Similarly, last year an innovative new outdoor space opened for people to meet and spend time at Walk-Up Avenue in Craigmillar town centre as part of the wider regeneration investment in the area, and plans are also under way for a brand new Community Campus in Liberton.

It’s our vision that this 20-minute neighbourhood approach will enable a net zero Edinburgh where everyone has the opportunity to live well locally.

We will soon be launching further engagement programmes to help form similar work across the city. This is your chance to participate and help us understand the needs of everyone and make sure your views shape the approach. Working together, we can create greener and thriving places, improve access to quality services and make it easier for everyone to move around our city.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Cammy Day is the leader of Edinburgh City Council