Cities thrive on connections. Those connections shape our opportunities – enabling us to access jobs, healthcare, and education. Yet urban mobility looks very different depending on where you live. Our new report, Regions and Cities at a Glance 2024 sheds new light on urban mobility, showing us which cities have the most connected citizens.
Mixed mobility
Public transport systems are vital to connect residents to opportunities while reducing pollution and supporting healthier, more resilient communities. Cities like Paris and London showcase the benefits of well-developed public transport networks. In Paris, 92% of residents can reach a public transport stop within a 10-minute walk. But this accessibility drops significantly in smaller cities; for example, in Tours, France, only 58% enjoy such convenience.
The divide is even more pronounced across continents: European and Asian cities generally perform better while in the United States and Mexico, fewer than half of the urban population lives within walking distance of a public transport stop.
We also find access highly variable within cities, access to public transport varies widely. Urban centres typically fare much better, with 84% of residents able to walk to a stop within 10 minutes. In suburban areas, this share plummets to just 56%. In cities like Vienna (Austria), Santiago (Chile) and Rome (Italy), the divide is even more pronounced, exceeding 75 percentage points, as less than 15% of their suburban residents have easy access to public transport.
Suburban residents are often left with limited alternatives to driving, as public transport networks in these areas are less frequent and less reliable.
Even when public transport is available, it frequently falls short in reach. In Greater Sydney (Australia) and Montreal (Canada), over 85% of residents can reach public transport within a 10-minute walk, yet it connects them to fewer than 22% of the destinations accessible by car. Across OECD cities, public transport users can access just 25% of the destinations reachable by car.
The situation is much worse in suburban areas, where public transport users can only access 13% of destinations that they can potentially access by car. As a result, car dependency still dominates in most cities. In OECD urban centres 76% of people rely on cars for their daily commute— – a figure that rises to 85% in suburban commuting zones.
Too few cities offer easy access to public services
Public transport is only part of the equation. Proximity to essential services like schools, pharmacies, and green spaces plays a critical role in quality of life. Yet, access remains unequal. For example, one in four urban residents cannot reach a green space within 400 metres, making it more difficult for them to benefit from the mental and physical health benefits green areas provide.
Access to pharmacies is equally crucial, particularly for senior citizens. In Collier (United States), three out of four older adults cannot easily walk to a pharmacy. In contrast, in Cartagena (Spain) only 2% cannot.
Accessibility also depends heavily on the part of a city where people live. In dense urban centres, 75% of residents can walk to a primary school or childcare facility within 15 minutes. This share falls to just 37% in suburban areas. In Athens (Greece) and New York (US), the gap exceeds 60 percentage points, as no more than 20% of people living in the suburbs have walking access to a school or childcare facility.
For those pushed to suburban or peripheral zones due to skyrocketing housing costs in urban centres, car dependency exacerbates exclusion. This affects not only low-income households but also children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, who face additional challenges when services and amenities are far from reach.
Creating cities that work for everyone
The true promise of cities lies in their potential to forge inclusive connections that foster opportunity for all. Yet, high-access areas often remain unaffordable for lower-income groups, with housing prices in large cities soaring by 64% over the past decade. Policymakers must implement smart urban planning strategies and investments to make more urban areas accessible, and bring public transport, essential services, and amenities within easy reach for all residents. Only then will we succeed in making our cities work for all.
Related OECD publications:
- OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance 2024 — offers accessible data and international comparisons on urban mobility and connectivity
- Decarbonising Urban Mobility with Land Use and Transport Policies: The Case of Auckland — explores how land-use and transport strategies can reduce emissions while enhancing urban accessibility
- The Geography of Opportunity: Job Accessibility and Income in 10 Functional Urban Areas in the United States — analyzes spatial links between employment access and income across major urban areas
- The Innovative Mobility Landscape: The Case of Mobility as a Service — examines the emergence of Mobility as a Service (MaaS), with guidance on governance and equitable integration of digital mobility services
Ana Isabel Moreno Monroy is the Acting Head of the Territorial Statistics and Analysis Unit at the Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities at the OECD. Previously she worked as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and as Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellow at the Rovira i Virgili University and the London School of Economics. In her research she uses geo-spatial data and economic and geography methods to contribute to the design of social inclusion policies. She has published in leading academic journals including the Journal of Development Economics and the Journal of Urban Economics. Ana owns a Masters and a PhD in Economics from the University of Groningen.
Marcos Díaz Ramírez is an Economist at the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities. His work focuses on urban, rural and regional development, as well as on the production and use of territorial indicators for policymaking. He has contributed to many OECD publications, including “A Territorial Approach to the Sustainable Development Goals” (2020), and “Regions and Cities at a Glance” (2024), as well as to articles in academic journals on regional and urban science. Marcos holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Public Policy from École Polytechnique and a PhD in Economics from Sciences Po Paris.