The "15 minute city" is toxic here - but in 50 other cities, they're removing "masculine desires" from urban planning
Photo by Louis Paulin on Unsplash
The “15-minute city” has become a toxic phrase in the UK, so controversial that the city of Oxford has stopped using it and the transport minister has spread discredited conspiracy theories about the urban planning scheme.
But while fake news spreads about officials enacting “climate lockdowns” to “imprison” people in their neighbourhoods, across the Channel Parisians are enjoying their new 15-minute neighbourhoods. The French are stereotyped for their love of protest, so the lack of uproar around the redesign of their capital is in stark contrast to the frenzied response in Oxford.
The paper reports on Carlos Moreno, the academic who invented the concept:
Moreno has written a new book, The 15-Minute City (out in May in the UK) about his theory, which is being implemented in cities from Milan to Buenos Aires. In it, he explains his theory, which is quite simple.
When many modern cities were designed, they were for men to work in. Their wives and family stayed in the suburbs, while the workers drove in. So they have been designed around the car, and segmented into different districts: the financial district (think Canary Wharf), the cultural area (for example, the West End) and then the suburbs.
They have also often been segmented into wealthier and poorer areas; in the less prosperous area to the north-east of Paris, Moreno says up to 40% of homes are social housing. In the wealthier west of Paris, this drops below 5%.
“My idea is to break this triple segregation,” he says.
Moreno thinks this segregation leads to a poorer quality of life, one designed around outdated “masculine desires”, so his proposal is to mix this up, creating housing developments with a mixture of social, affordable and more expensive housing so different social strata can intermingle.
He also wants to bring schools and children’s areas closer to work and home, so caregivers can more easily travel around and participate in society.
He also thinks office should generally be closer to homes, as well as cultural venues, doctors, shops and other amenities. Shared spaces such as parks help the people living in the areas to form communities.
An example of this is the new Îlot Saint-Germain development in one of Paris’s most chic neighbourhoods. It is situated in the old defence ministry, and flats with sweeping views of the Eiffel Tower go for a social rent of €600 (£515) a month.
Here’s the blurb from Moreno’s book:
In The 15-Minute City: A Solution for Saving Our Time and Our Planet, human city pioneer and international scientific advisor Carlos Moreno delivers an exciting and insightful discussion of the deceptively simple and revolutionary idea that everyday destinations like schools, stores, and offices should only be a short walk or bike ride away from home.
This book tells the story of an idea that spread from city to city, describing a new way of looking at living that addresses many of the most intractable challenges of our time. Hundreds of mayors worldwide have already embraced the concept as a way to help recover from the pandemic, and the idea continues to gain speed.
You’ll learn why more and more cities are planning to make cars far less necessary for contemporary city-dwellers and how they’re planning to achieve that goal. You’ll also find:
Strategies for cities to recover and adapt to benefit residents, saving them precious time
Techniques to change the habits of automobile-dependent city residents and maximize social benefits of living in a human-centric city
Scientifically developed, research-backed solutions for enduring urban issues and problems
Deeply committed to science, progress, and creativity, Moreno presents an essential and timely resource in The 15-Minute City, which will prove invaluable to anyone with an interest in modern and innovative approaches to consistently challenging urban issues that have bedeviled policy makers and city residents since the invention of the car.
More here. This Full Fact investigation debunks the idea that the 15-minute city is about surveillance and control of the movement of the population, as one of the conspiracy theories circulating around it claim.