In defence of 15-minute cities

It's not the 'what' that's the problem, but the 'why'

OK bear with me. I know 15-minute cities trigger many people.

The issue we have isn’t 15-minute communities in themselves. It’s that we are dealing with urban density-obsessed authoritarian zealots who plan cities. The issue isn’t the concept, but with the motivation of those promoting it and how they want to go about it.

WEF adherent, density zealots want to see densely packed urban centres with high-rise buildings and strictly controlled living standards. Their motivations are based on building a rigid, socialist society with the movement and actions of people strongly regulated. They claim their motivations are based on environmentalism and egalitarianism. It’s the same old ideological trash that led to the Soviet Union and it’s planned society.

The 15-minute city proponents inspired by the WEF have no interest in allowing people to exercise individual choices. That’s why they are obsessed with public transit and making individual automobile ownership impractical if not impossible. They want to squash people into enclaves and feel the only way to do so is to regulate movement. This was evident in the UK where a city tried to force automobile owners to stay within certain districts and offered fines for not doing so.

The WEF vision of 15-minute cities is one of virtual imprisonment. Like most authoritarian states, the elites would travel and enjoy lavish lifestyles but the commoners would be left to dull, existences of drudgery. In looking at who Canada sends overseas to environmental conferences and how well they treat themselves on the taxpayer’s dime at these shindigs, one can see we aren’t so far from the two-tiered world the WEF types want us to enjoy already.

People don’t trust the government to manage their lives and for very good reasons. The COVID days aren’t that far in the rearview mirror at all and we can remember just how eager the political class and their bureaucrats are to control us whenever possible. Unfortunately, this mistrust has led many to instinctively oppose all forms of community planning, even if it’s a good plan.

Think of a 15-minute city concept that’s not based on authoritarianism, but is instead based on free market capitalism, free movement and minor zoning controls. Think of a community where stores, schools, medical centres and other services are all or mostly within a 15-minute walk or at least a short drive. Savings would be had as people don’t find themselves commuting as far for work or services. A tighter community would bond as people in these places would get to know each other and socialize in the community hubs.

What I am describing isn’t nefarious at all if living within these communities is voluntary. In fact, we already have thousands of them. We call them small towns.

Dense, urban downtown hubs are obsolete. It used to be essential that large businesses set up administrative centres nearby each other so meetings could be held, communications and documents could be sent, and so workers could commute to them in reasonable times. With modern vehicles and communication methods, businesses can and are moving away from urban centres and setting up suburban campuses or heading to smaller cities and towns.

With more and more people able to work from home, many people are choosing to escape the cities and enjoy smaller town life or at least moving to the fringes of the cities rather than the core. New and growing communities enjoying the influx of new residents are creating local services to make the areas more appealing. They aren’t doing it because city planners are making them do it. They are doing it because that’s what citizens want.

The irony of the whole 15-minute city issue is that 15-minute cities will form organically if only authoritarians would leave citizens alone. Smaller, business hubs will form on the outskirts of cities and residential communities will surround them.

The density zealots decry this trend pejoratively as “urban sprawl.” They claim it’s environmentally harmful to let people spread out. In reality, suburban communities and small towns host and foster far more green space than any densely packed urban downtown. There tend to be fewer discarded syringes and less scent of urine as well.

The world is changing and we need to plan for it. Smaller communities with independent services within them are the future. There is nothing wrong with 15-minute cities. We just need to reimagine what they will be and how we will achieve them.

We must distinguish between the good 15-minute cities and the bad ones. It’s not hard to tell which is which with one simple rule.

If the proponent of a 15-minute city says we need more government to get there, they are proposing the wrong kind of 15-minute city.
https://www.westernstandard.news/opinion/morgan-in-defence-of-15-minute-cities/57361