Transforming Cities, Saving the Planet: The 15 Minute City Explained

Source: https://www.burohappold.com/articles/15-minute-cities/

One of the most defining changes to human society in the past century has been the drastic spatial change in settlements, from the majority of people living in small rural settlements to large, rapidly expanding cities. 100 years ago, just 20% of people lived in cities, and it is predicted that in 2050 this percentage will increase to a staggering 70% (Mineral Choices, n.d.). Furthermore, the IPCC found that urban infrastructure and activities contribute to 70% of global carbon emissions – meaning that cities lie at the forefront in the struggle for climate change mitigation (World Economic Forum, 2023). To address this – the ‘15 minute city’ concept was created – using urban planning to reduce climate emissions. 

What is the 15 Minute City? 

The term ‘15 Minute City’ was first coined by Professor Carlos Moreno from the Sorbonne University in Paris. The 15 minute city encapsulates a simple idea in urban planning – all essential needs (education, groceries, green spaces, basic healthcare etc) should be within 15 minutes of walking or cycling distance from one’s home (UNFCC, 2024). The change in urban planning would require less space for cars with a greater emphasis on cycling lanes, pedestrian areas, green spaces, and an increase in leisure amenities. The proposal is just as much social as it is ecological, with aims of a more ‘decentralised’ city fostering more community engagement and involvement. 

To learn more about the concept of this urban planning design as well as its implications in the battle against climate change I contacted Tanhua Jin, a researcher at the Vrije Universiteit, who is currently working on the ENHANCE project funded by the EU and DUT (see more here https://research.vu.nl/en/projects/enhancing-sustainable-travel-in-small-cities-and-outer-metropolit). 

To What Extent Can 15 Minute Cities Propose a Solution to Climate Change? 

The main argument for 15 minute cities proposing a solution to climate change is through its ability to reduce car use. The 15 minute city would reduce the necessity for car journeys and through this reduce fuel usage. Jin found through modelling scenarios that ‘approximately 50% of car CO2 emissions will be reduced’ and that ‘cycling is the most efficient way because it covers a larger catchment area’. Jin’s results show that 15 minute cities could have an important role in reducing emissions – especially with the global increase in urbanisation. 

The 15 minute city approach was designed around the city of Paris. However, Jin explained that using urban planning to tackle climate change does not just have to follow the same approach in every city. For example, there is the X minute city, where the X is undefined. In smaller cities, this could also be a shorter time frame, such as the 10 minute city concept in Utrecht. On the other side of the spectrum the Australian city of Melbourne proposed to strive for a 20 minute city. Thus the concept of a 15 minute city should be flexible to adapt to different population sizes and existing urban planning and infrastructure, with Jin stating the ultimate goal of – ‘trying to encourage people to live closeby to their neighbourhoods to reduce unnecessary trips and CO2 emissions’. 

The 15 minute city concept should not be a checklist or rulebook for cities to follow in the aims of reducing their carbon emissions. Every city is different, especially in economies with differing climates and levels of development. The take-aways from the 15 minute city concept is that in a globalising world where car dependency is rife with ever expanding cities, there should be a strive to ‘decentralise’ and ‘localise’ communities to decrease the need for unnecessary car journeys and dependencies. 

Can the 15 Minute City be applied globally? 

Last year, I visited a city with a rapidly growing population – Cairo, which currently has a greater metropolitan area population size of 24 million people. When speaking to a taxi driver, he detailed that many people in the city face commuting times of over 2 hours per journey, with traffic standstills common along with their air pollution side effects. Similar stories can be heard from cities in developing countries worldwide – such as Mexico City, São Paulo and Lagos. Consequently, for the 15 minute city concept to have an impact in reducing global car usage and CO2 emissions – it needs to have implications and uses in developing countries. Jin detailed that the most important part of whether a city is able to adapt is how dense its population/infrastructure is – which many of these cities are. She also stated that many developing cities are part of C40 – a global network of city mayors to reduce carbon emissions. The feasibility of these densely populated cities to adapt to aspects of the 15 minute city concept, as well as the shown interest from city mayors in reducing carbon emissions shows hope that many cities worldwide will be able to take steps towards this concept and reduce CO2 emissions. 

Predicted population growth of the world’s largest cities. Source: (https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization)

Backlash Against the 15-Minute Cities 

During COVID-19, a conspiracy theory spread around the internet, detailing an alleged government plan for Oxford to become a ‘15 minute city’ in which no one was allowed to move more than 15 minutes out of the city centre – as a means for the government to control the population. Of course, this theory never occurred, but has led some to associate the 15 minute city with governmental control instead of the simple urban planning concept that it is. The root of most of this backlash lies in miscommunication, not in opposition towards the aim of the concept itself. Therefore to combat this it is essential to educate local communities that the 15 minute concept is aimed at their convenience, allowing essential needs to be closer to home as well as reducing household costs through a decrease in fuel usage. 

Protestors in Oxford fearing governmental control. Source: (https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2023/10/17/council-votes-to-keep-oxfords-ltn-which-conspiracy-theorists-confuse-with-15-minute-city-plans/?sh=2b2c7a3c58ca) 

Moving Forward: the cities of the future? 

One of the main takeaways from the 15 minute city concept is that it does not need to be a change of the entire infrastructure of a city at once, but instead should be taken as a mindset when urban planning all around the world. The framework should also not focus on repeating the same urban planning styles globally, but adapt to suit the needs of individual cities. There should be an emphasis on increasing cycling and pedestrian infrastructure as well as an adequate spread of education, shopping, leisure, healthcare and green spaces infrastructure. To me, the 15 minute city proposes an exciting solution to increase the quality of life within cities whilst also decreasing carbon emissions.

References

Lay, E. (2023, June 7). 15 Minute Cities. Buro Happold. https://www.burohappold.com/articles/15-minute-cities/

Making the local global: how cities can have a positive impact on the climate. (2023, March 27). World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/03/local-global-how-cities-can-have-positive-impact-on-climate/

Reid, C. (2023, October 17). Council Votes To Keep Oxford’s LTN Which Conspiracy Theorists Confuse With 15-Minute City Plans. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2023/10/17/council-votes-to-keep-oxfords-ltn-which-conspiracy-theorists-confuse-with-15-minute-city-plans/?sh=2b2c7a3c58ca

Ritchie, H., Roser, M., & Samborska, V. (2018, September). Urbanization. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization

The 15 Minute City. (2024). Unfccc.int. https://unfccc.int/news/the-15-minute-city

Urbanisation and the Evolution of Cities Across 10,000 Years – Watch Now. (n.d.). Mineral Choices. https://mineral-choices.com/content/urbanization-and-the-evolution-of-cities-across-10000-years/#:~:text=Today%2C%20more%20than%20half%20of