Bremen: So many routes in just 8 minutes – top ranking for the city!

Bremen: So many routes in just 8 minutes – top ranking for the city!

Bremen, the charming city on the Weser, has fought for an outstanding place in the nationwide city ranking. According to a study by the Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Spatial Research (BBSR), Bremen is one of the cities with the shortest routes in everyday life. The average accessibility of important destinations is just 7.9 minutes on foot or by bike. This means that Bremen is proudly classified as an “eight-minute city”, which means that citizens can reach almost all everyday destinations in this time. Anyone who compares with Bremerhaven is well advised, because there it takes an average of 8.2 minutes, while the nationwide average is 14.6 minutes - there's something there! kreiszeitung.de reports that these values ​​are not just theoretical, but significantly increase the quality of life of Bremen.

In Bremen the distances are often even shorter, especially in central districts such as Mitte, Ostliche Vorstadt and Neustadt, where pharmacies, supermarkets and drugstores can sometimes only be reached in five minutes. However, there are also districts such as Oberneuland and Seehausen where residents have to allow up to 25 minutes for everyday errands. These differences mainly result from the rural peripheral regions, which have a thinner infrastructure. weser-kurier.de highlights that the study also includes the accessibility of 24 different everyday destinations, including supermarkets, general practitioners and daycare centers.

Role model in urban planning

The “15-minute city” model, developed by Carlos Moreno in 2016, is becoming increasingly important. This concept aims to design cities so that everything important can be reached within 15 minutes. This approach is intended not only to improve quality of life, but also to reduce air pollution and CO₂ emissions. The focus is on measures such as the expansion of cycle paths and car-free inner cities. Cities such as Paris and Vienna have already successfully implemented the model, while Bremen took its own path with the introduction of the “Ten Minute City” in 2021. This shows that Bremen is working on improving living conditions not only quantitatively but also qualitatively.

With an index value of 76 out of 100 points for local amenities, Bremen is one of the best municipalities in Germany and thus occupies a place among the 100 top cities. The SPD parliamentary group has recognized that there is still room for improvement when it comes to sustainability, but Bremen has the potential to improve further. A comparison with cities like Hanover (6.4 minutes), Dresden (7 minutes) or Nuremberg (6.7 minutes) shows that Bremen is not yet at the top, but the city has what it takes to continue making progress.

• Durchschnittliche Wegezeit in Bremen: 7,9 Minuten
• Durchschnittliche Wegezeit in Bremerhaven: 8,2 Minuten
• Bundesweiter Durchschnitt: 14,6 Minuten
• Dauer auf dem Land: 31 Minuten
• Top 5 Städte im Vergleich:
• Hannover: 6,4 Minuten
• Nürnberg: 6,7 Minuten
• Dresden: 7 Minuten
• Essen: 7,3 Minuten
• Bremen: 7,9 Minuten

The people of Bremen can be proud of their city, which, despite challenges on the way to becoming a 15-minute city, is following a positive trend. One can say: Bremen has a good hand, and the short distances could soon become even shorter!