In the 1920s, American planner Clarence Perry proposed the idea of “neighbourhood units”, a theory of “new urbanism” that promoted walkable cities.
It was a concept that would eventually morph into the ‘15-minute city’ (or sometimes, 20- or 30-minute ones) that have since spread around the globe.
The term ‘15-minute city’ was first devised in 2016 by Carlos Moreno, a professor at Paris’s Sorbonne University, as a way of rethinking urban planning. Nobody, he argued, should have to walk, or cycle, more than a quarter-of-an-hour to their work, their doctors, or their local stores.
In his recently released book, The 15-Minute City: A Solution to Saving Our Time and Our Planet, Moreno invites readers on a “different journey” to the kind of city that “no longer wants long distance with an inhuman transportation system; that refuses to damage its health by pollution that is becoming almost permanent; that wants to rediscover its humanity”.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo incorporated the concept as a defining part of her 2020 re-election campaign – and won. And it has spread well beyond the borders of Europe. “The pandemic has seen demand for walking and cycling infrastructure soar, and outdoor spaces more valued than ever,” noted NSW minister Rob Stokes in 2022. “Our vision for 15-minute neighbourhoods will also improve health and wellbeing outcomes, and ensure local communities thrive.” Here, Hamilton Council announced plans for a 20-minute city to give its residents “more time to spend on the things we like to do, like being with whānau and friends, enjoying our city’s parks and playgrounds, and downtime for our hobbies”.
So far, so perfect, right?
Step forward, conspiracy theorists!
A third of respondents to a Kings College London survey believed it to be probably or definitely true that 15-minute cities were “an attempt by governments to restrict people’s personal freedom and keep them under surveillance”.
Polarising psychologist Jordan Peterson has also tweeted on the issue: “The idea that neighbourhoods should be walkable is lovely. The idea that idiot tyrannical bureaucrats can decide by fiat where you’re ‘allowed’ to drive is perhaps the worst imaginable perversion of that idea – and, make no mistake, it’s part of a well-documented plan.”
The growing mood of suspicion since the Covid lockdowns have perhaps been the biggest driver of rebellion against this seemingly utopian urban dream that some argue is laying the foundations for future ‘climate lockdowns’. Conservative MP Nick Fletcher used his British Parliament platform to publicly denounce 15-minute cities as an “international socialist concept” that “will cost us our personal freedom”.
Vancouver’s former chief planner Brent Toderian says that the backlash is “surreal”, and that the concept is designed to promote, not limit personal freedoms. “We used to have 15-minute cities as the norm,” he tells ABC. “They were called good neighbourhoods – where you didn’t have to get into a car for everything.” The positives go well beyond lowering our carbon footprints, 15-minute cities benefit the health of both towns and their residents and can even combat the housing affordability crisis. The ideal 15-minute district, Moreno tells the Guardian would have “50% of the inhabitants live in social housing, 25% in middle class and 25% own their homes”, the proximity of the likes of independent bakers creating a “vibrant neighbourhood”.
Former President of the International Union of Architects, Thomas Vonier, says that the state of our planet “and perhaps even humanity itself” hinges upon how we shape and manage urban centres, and “Carlos Moreno has defined clear visions of the way forward”.
