It is Andy Warhol who is reputed to have said that "in the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." This is now considered a misattribution, but it is another kind of 15 minutes that is causing a great deal of discussion in 2023: The idea of 15-minute cities.
The premise is actually very simple. 15-minute cities are an urban concept in which all the residents in a city live within easy reach, on foot or by bike, of all the amenities they need for day-to-day living. The main aim is to reduce car dependency and make streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists, thus encouraging more active travel.
Such schemes have already been introduced successfully in Copenhagen and Paris, but it is the proposals for Oxford that have bought the idea to the attention of conspiracy theorists in the UK.
Twitter users have variously compared the 15-minute zones to "concentration camps" and a way to remove personal freedoms as part of a global socialist plot.
Personally, I love the idea. And I'm not alone:
After all, surely bringing everything within easy reach should be seen as a benefit not a restriction of freedom?
And as a cyclist myself, I know how intimidating and off-putting it is to cycle on busy roads without proper infrastructure:
How can anyone really consider the car culture we currently have - example
- as superior to being able to walk or cycle to the places we need to visit each week?
Comments