15 Minute Cities

Back in the old days, when we could still shake hands, back when we still had paper copies of "National Geographic" at the house, I saw a picture that got me excited.  It was a picture of a small city, and it was, I thought, the future.

I've always been interested in thinking and reading about cities - how we design urban spaces so that those of us who live there can live, work, eat, socialize, exercise, raise families, and prosper.  How do make a city that is healthy, efficient, egalitarian, active, and fiscally responsible.  My interest was motivated specifically and particularly by the long term challenges of climate change and income inequality.

The picture (remember the picture?) was an aerial view of a circular city.  A highway bisected the circle, disappearing in both directions.  Streets were plotted in concentric circles around the center, and spokewise, as well, creating a sort of arced grid.

According to the caption, as I remember it, the center of the city was shopping, parks and schools.  The next wide ring was residential, and further out were light industry and warehousing.  Beyond that were farms, growing or raising a wide variety of crops and livestock appropriate to the local needs and climate.  Light rail connected cities; each city was designed to be easily walkable and bikable.

I'm sure I've got some of the details wrong; it was a long time ago.  But the idea of a well-organized, thought-out-before-building space for a lot of people to live well in was terrifically attractive to me then, and still is.

The C-40 Cities is an international coalition of cities that are "taking bold climate action, leading the way toward a healthier and more sustainable future."  Now, we've all heard language like that before - for years and years - and we still don't seem to be making any real headway.  But in response to the pandemic, C-40 Cities has issued its Mayors Agenda for a Green and Just Recovery.

As far as I can tell, C-40 Cities starts with the assumption that municipalities (as well as states and the Federal government) will need to provide stimulus programs to get the economy running again, and that the centerpiece of any stimulus would involve infrastructure upgrade..  Their Agenda suggests that every stimulus, at least in cities, should be a green stimulus, and that a major goal of a city's infrastructure upgrade should be to create 15-minute cities.

In a '15-minute city,' all citizens are able to meet most or all of their needs within a short walk or bike ride from home.

Apparently Paris is already doing this, and many other cities are close behind.  Decentralization, and design that focuses on the daily life of actual human beings, is seen as the way to make the slow, difficult transit to the new world.

My fantasy city was a 15-minute city, but not exactly as C-40 Cities imagined it.  They are re-designing existing cities.  But in addition to the C-40 Cities Agenda, building thousands of smaller, purpose-built, nearly self-sufficient circle cities across the landscape is an approach to building back better that is worth talking about on the way to the new world.