“The 15-minute city is not a silver bullet” Carlos Moreno, scientific director and professor specialising in complex systems and innovation at University of Paris also Paris City Hall’s special envoy for smart cities “Today our neighborhoods are segregated by money – rich, poor, middle class, workers, bars, offices. There’s great segregation. But what we must do is use 15-minute cities to focus on the common good”.
“We know sometimes large cities can be tiring and can create a sense of anonymity,” Carine Rolland. “but proximity means that we will, through our social links, rediscover our way of living in cities. We want open spaces, but ones for doing nothing in particular, where people can meet each other or encounters can happen as much as possible. We live better when we live together, and this will rework our social fabric.
The 15-minute city requires minimal travel among housing, offices, restaurants, parks, hospitals and cultural venues. Each neighbourhood should fulfil six social functions: living, working, supplying, caring, learning and enjoying.” Carlos Moreno
The transformation of neighbourhoods has been well underway since Anne Hidalgo became Mayor of Paris in 2014, banning high-polluting vehicles, restricting the quays of the Seine to pedestrians and cyclists, and creating mini green spaces across the city – since 2018, more than 40 Parisian school grounds have been transformed into green “oasis yards”. More than 50km of bike routes known as “coronapistes” have also been added since the pandemic struck and last month renovation of the Place de la Bastille was completed as part of a €30m redesign of seven major squares. Anne Hidalgo has pledged a further €1bn euros ($1.2bn, £916m) per year for the maintenance and beautification of streets, squares and gardens.”
Read the full article by Peter Yeung (4th January 2021)
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