Many local authorities across the UK are considering how they can implement the new concept of a 20-minute neighbourhood. This attractive new initiative gives communities the ability to meet most of their daily needs within a short walk from home, with safe cycling and local transport options. Since the pandemic there has been a growing global interest in creating places in which most needs can be met within a short walk or cycle and many UK councils are now focussing on how they can implement these communities.

20-minute neighbourhoods offer many important benefits for local communities such as reducing reliance on cars and lowering transportation costs and greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, these walkable neighbourhoods improve public health, help residents save money and improve access to daily needs.

Place Informatics, the leading provider of footfall and location visitor behaviour data monitoring in the UK believes that visitor data is vital to implementing these neighbourhoods effectively. To be able to truly offer a 20-minute solution, local authorities need to understand how current communities are being utilised by local visitors. This includes understanding how retail, leisure, public transport and local areas such as green spaces are being used locally and what facilities people do not have, forcing them to travel outside of the local area to find them.

The data experts currently work with over 250 towns in the UK and have seen first-hand how visitor insights are key to understanding and informing on how services, retail, leisure and public areas are being utilised locally and by visitors further afield.

These insights will allow councils to understand:

· What is the local socio-demographic and what their needs are
· Which other neighbourhoods’ local people visit and why they go there
· How many locals/commuters/tourists visit a community and what are their different needs?
· Which catchment postcodes are not visiting or what is the reason for low visitor numbers?
· How and why do locals use the green spaces in a neighbourhood
· If local green spaces are too busy/underutilised and if there are any issues with parking
· How the retail and leisure mix differ compared to their surrounding neighbourhoods
· What are the communities unique selling points and how this attracts visitors

Place Informatics visitor behaviour platform helps councils across the UK understand how their visitors are behaving, where they are being attracted from and most importantly what services they are utilising on their visit across retail sites, leisure venues, green spaces and car parks.

Clive Hall, CEO of Place Informatics, commented, “The 20 Minute neighbourhood scheme is a fantastic concept that can and will benefit many local communities across the UK and it is great to see so many local authorities considering how this can be implemented.

We work closely with many councils to help them understand their local population’s demographics and behaviour. These detailed insights on visitor behaviour are helping to empower them with the data needed to understand how their communities are being utilised and what services or retail outlets are needed to ensure they can offer a 20-minute neighbourhood which truly works for the residents.”