Local accessibility
Accessibility at neighbourhood scale, over short distances and mostly on foot or by bike, rather than across a whole city or region.
Local accessibility, also called neighbourhood-level accessibility, is accessibility measured at the scale of a neighbourhood rather than a city or a region. It concerns short distances, usually covered on foot or by bike, to the things people need several times a week. The distinction was set out by Handy in 1992, separating regional from local accessibility.
The distinction matters because the two can point in opposite directions. A neighbourhood beside a motorway junction and a main station has excellent regional accessibility and can still have nothing within walking distance. The reverse also happens: a dense older neighbourhood with a bakery, a school and a doctor around the corner can be poorly connected to the rest of the region. Reporting one number for accessibility hides which of the two you are looking at.
Most of what the 15-minute city describes is local accessibility, and most of what active mobility planning improves is local accessibility. Regional accessibility is largely a question of rail, road and long-distance transport service.