Own product · 2026 · in progress
Kwadrans.map
Blisko, w Twoim tempie.
Close by, at your own pace. (our translation)
Open the Studio (v3)Opens in a new tab · best on a desktop
A design tool for the 15‑minute city. It checks whether a school, green space and a stop are truly within reach of a parcel, an address or a neighbourhood cell: along walking routes, at a senior's pace, with proof for every number.
Role: concept, product, UX and brand
01 From slogan to standard
The “15‑minute city” is grounded in the law.
Article 13f of the Polish spatial planning act (Journal of Laws 2026 item 538) measures access from the parcel boundary, along a public walking route. A municipality may write these standards into its general plan. Kwadrans.map lets you design cities that work for their residents and draw up flawless zoning plans.
- School
- up to 1,500 m
- to a primary school in a city, from the parcel boundary
- Green space
- 3 ha · up to 1,500 m
- of public green space in total
- Green space
- 20 ha · up to 3,000 m
- one larger green area
02 The route draws itself
A straight line is not the way to school.
From parcel 214/13 to Primary School No. 365 at 4 Płużnicka Street. The map computes the real route along the streets and shows how long it takes at two paces.
Art. 13f for parcel 214/13
- Primary school within 1,500 m: 1,116 m along the streets, meets
- 3 ha of green within 1,500 m: 5 ha, 1,473 m along the streets, at the limit · 27 m to spare
- 20 ha of green within 3,000 m: none, no data
A sample 146 m segment found by an algorithm where there are no buildings. The engine recomputes the route once it is added to the network.
03 Reach grows
Reach spreads along streets, not in circles.
15 minutes is 720 m at a calm pace (0.8 m/s) and 1,170 m at a usual one (1.3 m/s). Move the minutes or change the pace and the wave runs through the real street network, lighting up what you can reach in time.
Show as a tableHide table
| Category | Along streets | Usual | Calm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transit stop | 339 m | 4 min 20 s | 7 min 3 s |
| Sport | 780 m | 10 min | 16 min 15 s |
| Education | 885 m | 11 min 20 s | 18 min 26 s |
| Health | 921 m | 11 min 48 s | 19 min 11 s |
| Culture | 1,058 m | 13 min 33 s | 22 min 2 s |
| Green | 1,270 m | 16 min 16 s | 26 min 27 s |
| Administration | 2,201 m | 28 min 13 s | 45 min 51 s |
| Retail | 2,975 m | 38 min 8 s | 61 min 58 s |
1 of 8
categories within 15 minutes
- Transit stop, 339 m
- Sport, 780 m
- Education, 885 m
- Health, 921 m
- Culture, 1,058 m
- Green, 1,270 m
- Administration, 2,201 m, beyond 1,500 m
- Retail, 2,975 m, beyond 1,500 m
Retail in the city data means marketplaces only; education combines kindergartens, schools and nurseries; health is primary care (12.2023) and pharmacies.
04 Who gains
Place a kindergarten. See who gains, and who doesn't.
This is the moment the app was built for. The grey patch shows neighbourhood cells without an education facility within 15 minutes at a calm pace. Place a proposal and the engine computes the gain along the street network straight away.
neighbourhood cell = H3 hexagon, resolution 11
+96neighbourhood cells gain
+26addresses gain
Proposal: kindergarten (a scenario, not the current state)
Today without an education facility within 15 minutes: 505 neighbourhood cells, 71 addresses.
05 The Studio
The Studio: from one neighbourhood to the whole city.
in progress
The Studio opens straight onto a map of all of Warsaw. The “Access in 15 minutes” hexagon grid shows at a glance where a school, green space and a stop are within a quarter-hour walk, and where they are missing.
Click anywhere and the map shows how far you can walk from there in 15 minutes. It measures along real streets and footpaths, not as the crow flies, and tells you how many metres that is.
Studio, the “How far can I walk” scene in Śródmieście: the area reachable in 15 minutes on foot along streets, with a dotted isochrone and the label “15 min · 1,170 m along the way”; the map theme is dimmed and the “How far can I walk from here” card is on the right.
Add a kindergarten, a nursery, a school, a clinic or a pharmacy to the map. The Studio immediately marks in cherry the areas from which the new place will be within a 15‑minute walk. The change goes into a separate variant, so the current state stays untouched.
Studio, variant A: a kindergarten placed with the “Service” tool where there was none within a 15‑minute walk, on the right bank of the Vistula opposite Żoliborz; the cells that gain access are outlined with a dashed cherry line and the theme map is recalculated for the variant.
The Studio up close
Click a thumbnail or use the arrow keys; “Enlarge” shows the full-size screenshot.
Pace changes the map
The same map of Warsaw at the Calm pace (0.8 m/s). A quarter-hour is then 720 m instead of 1,170 m, so there are clearly fewer cells with every everyday service.
- Assumptions: on foot, along streets, Calm pace (0.8 m/s), 15 minutes, statutory thresholds.
- The same classes as at the Usual pace: fewer cells have all 11 everyday services within reach.
Seniors: what they lose
A separate theme shows how many everyday services drop out of the quarter-hour at a calm pace (0.8 instead of 1.3 m/s).
dark theme
- The theme's question: how many everyday services drop out of the quarter-hour at a calm pace (0.8 instead of 1.3 m/s).
- Four classes: less than half a service, about one, 2–3, and 4 or more.
Where the quarter-hour already works
A click on a legend class leaves only that class on the map. Here, “all 11”: cells from which each of the 11 everyday services is within a 15‑minute walk.
- The “all 11” class is pressed: the map shows only that class; a second click brings back all classes.
- The theme's question: how many of 11 everyday services are within a 15‑minute walk.
The network the engine walks
“Show network” draws the streets and footpaths within reach. Saska Kępa at the Calm pace: 15 minutes is 720 m along the way.
dark theme
- The network within reach: the streets and footpaths the engine walks for 15 minutes; the edge is a single dotted isochrone.
- The result: 15 minutes is 720 m along the way at 0.8 m/s.
- The “How far can I walk from here” card: the threshold, addresses and network length within reach; “Show network” draws the segments.
Stops: how often it runs
An overlay from the ZTM timetable. The stop card gives the average departures per hour on a weekday and whether the stop is a frequent one.
- Stop card: average departures per hour on a weekday and whether the stop is frequent (at least 4 departures).
- An overlay from the ZTM timetable (GTFS): a point's size and strength grow with the number of departures.
Kindergartens and schools on the access map
Kindergartens and primary schools as points over the “Access in 15 minutes” theme, here in Białołęka.
- Point overlays: kindergartens and primary schools from the register of institutions; at most two at a time in the simple view.
- Tool palette: from this map you can place a service or check the reach straight away.
Parcels and art. 13f
Up close, here in Mokotów, the map colours each residential parcel by whether a school and green space are near enough (statutory values; hypothetical analysis).
- Parcel states by the art. 13f distances: meets, borderline, does not meet, no data; paler – non-residential parcels.
- A note in the legend: a supporting analysis, not a ruling.
The parcel card
Each condition separately: the along-the-way distance from the parcel boundary, the margin to the threshold, the engine and data versions. The verdict: statutory values; hypothetical analysis.
- The parcel's verdict (statutory values; hypothetical analysis).
- Each condition separately: the along-the-way distance from the parcel boundary and the margin to the threshold.
- The selected parcel, outlined; the colour of the others is their state.
The evidence route
One click draws the real route to the nearest school. The card adds that the route starts at the parcel's centre, while art. 13f measures from its boundary (statutory values; hypothetical analysis).
dark theme
- The evidence route: the real way along streets to the school, not a straight line.
- The route's along-the-way length.
- A note in the card: the route starts at the parcel's centre, while art. 13f measures from its boundary.
The “Service” tool
You pick the kind of facility and the ring snaps to the walking network. Here, a spot with no kindergarten within a 15‑minute walk.
- The tool's option bar: the kind of facility (kindergarten, nursery, school, clinic, pharmacy) and “Cancel”.
- The ring snaps to the walking network, so the new facility stands by a footpath.
- A hint at the cursor: what a click will do and how to leave.
Variants
The existing state is locked; changes go into variants. In variant B, a GP clinic and dots for the addresses that gain access to it.
- Variants: the existing state does not change (the lock); changes go into variants A and B; keys 1–4.
- Who gains: the outline and the dots of addresses from which the new clinic will be within a 15‑minute walk.
The detailed view
For daily work: a denser interface, the parcel card pinned next to the map (art. 13f: statutory values; hypothetical analysis), and the scale and data version in the status bar.
- The “Detailed view” switch (the W key): denser, with codes and pinnable panels.
- The pinned parcel card: the map narrows instead of hiding under the card.
- Status bar: the calculation scope, scale, data date and version.
The glossary
The interface speaks plain language and the glossary links each word to its technical term: a variant is a scenario, the existing state is the baseline.
- The glossary filter: a typed word narrows the table.
- Three columns: the word in the interface, a plain-language explanation and the technical term.
Open the Studio (v3)Opens in a new tab · best on a desktop
- 517 km²
- 18 districts, 143 City Information System (MSI) areas
- 655,391
- walking-network nodes (28,842 km)
- 287,675
- land-register parcels
- 126,909
- addresses
Walking network: OpenStreetMap topology (ODbL) and city footpaths. Data downloaded 10 Oct 2026.
Base map: OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Data: City of Warsaw, mapa.um.warszawa.pl (processed; currency per layer metadata); walking network © OpenStreetMap (ODbL) and city footpaths; RSPO, GUS BDL, Eurostat (CC BY 4.0); GTFS: ZTM Warszawa, M. Kuranowski (mkuran.pl). Downloaded 10 Oct 2026 · processed by Kwadrans.map.
06 Data
Eight sources, one map.
Kwadrans.map combines open data from the city, the state, the EU and the OpenStreetMap community. Every layer has its source, licence and download date.
- CityGIS layers
City of Warsaw map services
City of Warsaw · mapa.um.warszawa.pl
- parcels
- 287,675
- addresses
- 126,909
- land-register parcels (EGiB)
- buildings
- street axes
- footpaths
- address points
- public services
- green areas (ZZW)
Licence: processed; currency per layer metadata
mapa.um.warszawa.pl (opens in a new tab) - Communitynetwork graph
OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap contributors
- nodes
- 655,391
- of walking network
- 28,842 km
- walking-network topology
Licence: ODbL
openstreetmap.org (opens in a new tab) - Communityvector tiles
OpenFreeMap
OpenFreeMap · OpenMapTiles
- the Studio's base map
Licence: © OpenMapTiles · © OpenStreetMap (ODbL)
openfreemap.org (opens in a new tab) - TransitGTFS
ZTM timetable
ZTM Warszawa · M. Kuranowski (mkuran.pl)
- stops
- timetables
- departures per hour
- StateAPI
RSPO
Register of Schools and Educational Institutions
- kindergartens
- primary schools
Licence: CC BY 4.0
rspo.gov.pl (opens in a new tab) - StateAPI
Statistics Poland · Local Data Bank
Statistics Poland (GUS)
- official statistics
Licence: CC BY 4.0
bdl.stat.gov.pl (opens in a new tab) - European UnionAPI
Eurostat
Statistical Office of the European Union
- European statistics
Licence: CC BY 4.0
ec.europa.eu (opens in a new tab) - Lawrules
Art. 13f of the planning act
Journal of Laws 2026 item 538
- school up to 1,500 m
- 3 ha of green up to 1,500 m
- 20 ha of green up to 3,000 m
Downloaded 2 Oct 2026 (maps on this page) and 10 Oct 2026 (the Studio) · processed by Kwadrans.map
07 Brand
The “Soft” brand. The “Threshold” mark.
“The dot is your threshold – the place where home ends and the city begins. A soft quarter spreads out from it: everything you can reach in a quarter-hour, at your own pace.”
Anatomy of the mark
- Dot
- Your threshold: the home you set out from.
- Gap
- The narrow gap between the dot and the quarter is the threshold itself.
- Quarter
- A superellipse n = 2.6, R = 40 on a 64 grid: everything within a quarter-hour.
The mark never turns or flips.
Colour proportion
- about 80%warm white and neutrals
- about 15%graphite
- up to 5%cherry: route, proposal, main action
Typeface
Inter with optical sizing; huge light numbers, tabular figures.
1,
58 icons on a 24 × 24 px grid with a 1.5 px stroke
- Education
- Health
- Green
- Retail
- Sport
- Culture
- Administration
- Transit stop
- Motion
- Motion shows the effect: reach grows, the route draws itself, the number changes. No springs or bounces; nothing blinks.
- Brand book
- Interactive brand book: 21 chapters, 253 sections, 696 figures, 84 live maps.