Exploring potential strategies to develop buraydah as a 15-minute city for saudi vision 2030

Buraydah's recognition as a UNESCO Creative City in gastronomy highlights its cultural and economic importance while drawing attention to challenges in achieving the '15-minute city' concept to enhancing food related mobility, tourism-driven urban form and its strategic use in hosting events or festival of creativity to promote sustainable urban development. The main fundamental obstacles include car dependency, limited public transportation, minimal mixed-use development, and urban sprawl, all of which reduce accessibility and neighborhood self-sufficiency. Additional barriers including uneven service distribution and harsh climatic conditions further discourage walking and cycling due to the inadequate climate-adaptive infrastructure. This study investigates various strategies and basic criteria for transforming the city into a 15-minute city by analyzing case studies, assessing current conditions, and identifying relevant urban design criteria, improving public transportation, developing pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, ensuring equitable service distribution, and repurposing underutilized land for mixed-use development. Using an inductive methodology, to review the literature on an urban design for a "15-minute city" and an analytical approach to examine case studies of global cities classified as "15-minute cities." Through conducting a questionnaire about Buraydah city, including both local residents and specialists; designers and urban planners, The findings reveal significant urban challenges, including reliance on cars and a lack of shaded walkways. Residents expressed a strong desire for obtaining an improved access to shops, parks, mosques, healthcare, and schools, while urban planners emphasized the importance of mixed-use development and climate-adaptive urban design. In conclusion, the current research proposed actionable strategies to align Buraydah with the '15-minute city' vision, promoting a more sustainable, inclusive, and accessible urban environment. Addressing these schemes will enhance residents' quality of life, bolster Buraydah’s status as a UNESCO Creative City, tourism-driven urban form and provide a model for urban transformation in similar contexts.