Reimagining Proximity: Operationalising the X-Minute City and Urban Regeneration in Amsterdam and Milan

The study explores the concept of the X-Minute City, an evolution of the 15-min city paradigm, as an operational tool for sustainable urban regeneration in Europe. Starting from the goal of ensuring daily accessibility to key services within 5–20 min on foot or by bicycle, the research analyses how this proximity model can respond to contemporary environmental, social, and infrastructural challenges. Through a comparative approach between Amsterdam and Milan, chosen for their regulatory and cultural differences, the study combines documentary analysis, urban policy evaluation, and the construction of a grid of multidimensional indicators relating to proximity, sustainable mobility, spatial reuse, and social inclusion. In conceptual terms, the X-Minute City is understood here as a flexible and governance-oriented extension of the 15-min city, in which proximity is treated as an adaptive temporal band (5–20 min) and as an infrastructure of multilevel urban governance rather than a fixed and universal design rule. The findings highlight that in the Netherlands, the model is supported by a coherent and integrated regulatory framework, while in Italy, innovative local experiments and bottom-up participatory practices prevail. The analysis demonstrates that integrating the X-Minute City with multilevel governance tools and inclusive policies can foster more equitable, resilient, and sustainable cities. Finally, the research proposes an adaptable and replicable framework, capable of transforming the X-Minute City from a theoretical vision to an operational infrastructure for 21st-century European urban planning. The limitations of this predominantly qualitative, document-based approach are discussed, together with future directions for integrating spatial accessibility modelling and participatory methods.