Project

About DREAMS

DREAMS (Driving Equitable and Accessible 15-Minute Neighbourhood Transformations) explores how co-created, user-centric mobility services, mobility hubs and flexible activity hubs can make neighbourhoods in the urban outskirts of European cities accessible, sustainable and inclusive.

The 15-minute city idea grew out of dense urban cores. DREAMS asks what it takes to make it work in low- to mid-density suburbs and outskirts, where everyday destinations lie further apart and walking and cycling alone rarely cover daily needs.

DREAMS is a research project of the Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) Partnership, selected in the 2022 call under the 15-minute city transition pathway. The project is coordinated by the University of Twente and runs from January 2024 to December 2026.

Aims

The project pursues five aims.

Compare lifestyles

A comparative analysis of 15-minute lifestyles across suburban and urban outskirts of differing density, forming the first European comparison of local 15-minute city implementations.

Rethink business models

New business models and governance frameworks that make shared mobility services and flexible activity hubs viable in low- and medium-density areas.

Support decisions

A map-based decision support tool that helps stakeholders co-create and assess mobility services, mobility hubs and flexible activity hubs.

Assess impacts

An assessment of the mobility, accessibility and wider societal impacts of the interventions tested in the living labs.

Guide policy

Policy recommendations on pathways towards sustainable and inclusive mobility in 15-minute neighbourhoods at the urban edge.

The tools that came out of this work are described on the Tools page, and the recommendations are woven into the SUMP Process guidance on this platform.

Six living labs

DREAMS grounds its research in six living labs. Each is set in a peripheral district where local partners, residents and mobility providers work together on concrete interventions.

The labs are Haren and Neder-Over-Heembeek in Brussels, Rákosmente in Budapest, Geretsried in the Munich region, Évry-Courcouronnes in the Paris region, Overvecht in Utrecht and Liesing in Vienna. Together they cover mobility hubs, flexible activity hubs, demand-responsive services, car-sharing and car-pooling, and shared micromobility. To keep findings comparable, each scenario was planned for evaluation in at least two labs. The Living Lab Overview introduces all six areas.

Work packages

The work is organised in seven work packages. The research moves from redefining the concept and reviewing planning practice, through tool development and new business models, into the living labs, and closes with impact assessment and transfer to practice.

WP	Focus	Lead partner
1	Project and data management, and quality control	University of Twente
2	Review and comparative analysis	BOKU University
3	Development of the 15-minute city decision support tool	Technical University of Munich
4	New governance and business models and transition pathways	Mpact
5	DREAMS 15-minute city living labs	Budapest University of Technology and Economics
6	Impact assessment and evaluation	Vrije Universiteit Brussel
7	Transferability and knowledge dissemination	University of Twente

Every research task is led and co-led by academic partners from two different countries, to make the most of the transnational set-up. This knowledge platform is itself a WP7 output, led by Mobyome and built to carry the project's findings to practitioners beyond its lifetime.

Consortium

The consortium brings together 28 partners from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary and the Netherlands. Fifteen full partners carry out the research. They include universities, public research organisations, practice partners from planning and mobility, a municipality and EIT Urban Mobility. Thirteen cooperation partners, among them cities and regional authorities, public transport operators and shared mobility providers, open up the living labs and help test interventions on the ground. The people behind the project are introduced on the DREAMers page.

Partners of DREAMS across the six living labs

Management structure

DREAMS uses a layered management structure. Day-to-day decisions sit with the Daily Management Board, the Executive Board provides oversight, and each living lab runs its own coordination.

Organisational structure of the project

Daily Management Board

The highest decision-making body. Chaired by the coordinator, it brings together the work package and living lab leaders in monthly meetings. Decisions need a two-thirds majority.

Executive Board

One representative of each full partner, chaired by the coordinator. It advises on direction and quality, meets twice a year alongside consortium meetings and can add items to the board agenda.

Living Lab Partners

The local partners in each lab. Led by the living lab leader, they meet every two months to develop, apply and evaluate DREAMS research and tools on site.

Quality and Data Manager

Appointed by the coordinator. Organises the peer review of every deliverable by at least one other partner and supports data management plans that meet national funding rules.

DREAMS (project number F-DUT-2022-0088) is funded through the DUT Partnership, which is supported by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe co-funded Partnership scheme. Each full partner is funded by its national research funding agency.