Walking time is a major barrier to accessing urban ecosystems globally

Public access to nature is critical for human health and well-being. Ensuring that all urban residents live within a five-minute walk of urban ecosystems is a priority in towns and cities worldwide. We quantified the walking travel time to urban ecosystems for all urban residents, totalling more than 4.7 billion people. More than half of this population lives within a five-minute walk of an urban ecosystem, but there are gross geographic disparities in access, with the Global South disadvantaged. A sensitivity analysis highlighted a substantial improvement over previous analyses, which likely over- or under-estimated access due to methodological choices. Improving access to urban nature in the future will require innovative planning and design that creates new ecosystem spaces and improves walkability.