Imagine if your local shop was just around the corner. If your go-to pub or café was a 5 minute walk away. If the nearest park was a few minutes from your front door. Now convince yourself that this is all an evil socialist plot to… give you everything you need on your doorstep. Sounds dumb right? That’s because it is.
Yet somehow the idea of 15 and 20 minute cities has been taken by the fringe elements of our society and transformed into exactly that. An evil plot that will chisel away your freedoms and turn you into a prisoner in your own home.
The 15 minute city concept is exactly what it sounds like. It is promoting the idea that you should be able to access anything you need within a 15 minute walk or cycle. It isn’t imprisoning you. There aren’t cops patrolling in a 15 minute radius of your house, just waiting for you to slip up and cross the line they’ve painted on the ground so they can tackle you. That would be absurd.
We actually already have this to an extent in Edinburgh. Certainly in the areas most heavily populated by students. Think about where your nearest shop is, for most of us it’s less than 10 minutes away. Have you ever complained about this ease of access? Are there valid concerns about implementing these concepts without marginalising disabled people and increasing gentrification, yes there are. Are they a reason not to do so? Absolutely not. This is a revolution in urban planning, one geared towards ease of access, pedestrianisation, encouraging active lifestyles, bringing nature back into our urban spaces, and a society measured in happiness rather than GDP. Sounds pretty good to me.
“People riding bikes and pedestrians use separate lanes through the work zone” by OregonDOT is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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The Short Rant: 15 minute cities
Imagine if your local shop was just around the corner. If your go-to pub or café was a 5 minute walk away. If the nearest park was a few minutes from your front door. Now convince yourself that this is all an evil socialist plot to… give you everything you need on your doorstep. Sounds dumb right? That’s because it is.
Yet somehow the idea of 15 and 20 minute cities has been taken by the fringe elements of our society and transformed into exactly that. An evil plot that will chisel away your freedoms and turn you into a prisoner in your own home.
The 15 minute city concept is exactly what it sounds like. It is promoting the idea that you should be able to access anything you need within a 15 minute walk or cycle. It isn’t imprisoning you. There aren’t cops patrolling in a 15 minute radius of your house, just waiting for you to slip up and cross the line they’ve painted on the ground so they can tackle you. That would be absurd.
We actually already have this to an extent in Edinburgh. Certainly in the areas most heavily populated by students. Think about where your nearest shop is, for most of us it’s less than 10 minutes away. Have you ever complained about this ease of access? Are there valid concerns about implementing these concepts without marginalising disabled people and increasing gentrification, yes there are. Are they a reason not to do so? Absolutely not. This is a revolution in urban planning, one geared towards ease of access, pedestrianisation, encouraging active lifestyles, bringing nature back into our urban spaces, and a society measured in happiness rather than GDP. Sounds pretty good to me.
“People riding bikes and pedestrians use separate lanes through the work zone” by OregonDOT is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
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