The 15-minute city is now a thing! It basically means that wherever you live, you should be able to get to where you need within 15 minutes – either by walking or some form of public transport. Not to say that everyhing has to be car-free. But if you don’t own a car, then it doesn’t really matter. If you want to visit the farmers’ market, take your dog to the park or simply visit the theatre or report something to the local police station, everything should be accessible, without having to drive half-way across town or get in a car and drive there.
The 15-Minute City imaginges places to live and work, where you can reach everything you need by foot or bike, within a short period of time. What if people could reclaim the time presently spent commuting, to use it for other methods of life. The pandemic brought massive changes in reducing the amount of people commuting, and all for the good. Many people chose to stay at home, even though big corporate companies and MPs tried to bully them to return to the stress of commuting and renting expensive offices, just to bring ‘economic growth’. Using models from ancient Athens to modern Paris, this book shows how one idea could change our daily lives and the world for good.
The 15-Minute City (same title, different book) again looks at how we could create towns where shops, offices and schools are all a short walk or bike ride away from home. Hundreds of mayors worldwide have now embraced this concept since the pandemic, to make cars less needed for people living in urban areas. Not only good for the planet, the idea reclaims precious time that can then be spent with children, pets, grandchildren or grandparents, or just taking up new hobbies or simply relaxing. And this all fosters good mental and physical health, which in turn saves the NHS millions.
The 15-Minute City (another book with the same title!) asks if this idea is a Utopian dream or a nightmare to plan? Designed to make cities more sustainable and healthier and more equal (just as nice to live in for people without access to cars), such plans do require significant investment which often small town councils don’t have. Plus such planning ideas are sure to be met with resistance by those who are interested in maintaining the status quo (like people who make cars, rent out expensive long-lease office blocks and shops, and the people behind the major chainstores that rely on out-of-town customers. Yet despite this, the benefits are so good that it could justify effort to overcome these obstacles.
In Colombia, former mayor Enrique Peñalosa tore up the budget to build more roads for cars, and instead used to the money to create cycle lanes and parks for local people. To this day, the city is car-free each Sunday, letting people walk or cycle without concern for car traffic. And if you think he had opposition, boy did he! He even faced opposition from local neighbourhood associations who didn’t even want local parks. People sometimes are resistant to change. But today most people are happy. He proved everyone wrong!
In the Alabama town of Mt Laurel, everything has been designed to be within walking distance. The trees that were uprooted to build the town were later replanted, and today everyone can walk to the local park (there are two dog parks – one for boisterous dogs and one for senior dogs who just like to potter and sniff). People can easily walk to the local farmers’ market. If there’s a fire, you can even run to the fire station to report it!