What Is a 15-Minute City and Why Are Conspiracy Theorists Rattled By It?

The term 15-minute city was coined by Paris-based urbanist Carlos Moreno.

A protest against the 15-minute city concept in Oxford, UK. 

(Photo: Twitter/ @SickChirpse )

Imagine living in a place where all amenities like parks, restaurants, schools, grocery shops, and pharmacies are accessible through a 15-minute walk or bicycle ride from your house. It sounds like a dream come true, right? Well, that is the exact premise of a 15-minute city.

However, not everyone is convinced that it is a wholesome concept. For instance, conspiracy theorists have likened 15-minute cities to a "dystopian hellscape," and said that they are part of a grand plan to control the masses.

But what's making them believe that? And why are there protests against the concept of 15-minute cities? Read on.

What Is a 15-Minute City?

A 15-minute city is essentially a neighbourhood-planning principle in which everything people require for their day-to-day lives, such as schools, doctors, grocery stores, etc, are available within a short walk or cycling distance from home. It reportedly eliminates the need for car journeys, thereby cutting carbon emissions, reducing air and noise pollution, and improving people’s health.

The term was coined by Paris-based urbanist Carlos Moreno. Speaking to The Quint, Moreno said, "Instead of being perfect for cars, it’s a proposition to design easy walking distance cities with shops, cafes, schools, public equipment. Short distances are also an opportunity to foster social community, with a dynamic neighbourhood life."

It started receiving international attention when the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, announced her intention to make France's capital city a 15-minute city, following her re-election in 2020. The city has since banned cars from parts of Seine, added cycling routes, and created mini parks.

The idea particularly took hold in 2020 in the wake of COVID-19, when lockdowns and work-from-home forced people to abandon their cars and recognise the need for well-served local neighbourhoods.

Do Such Cities Exist in Reality?

Alex Nurse, a lecturer in urban planning at the University of Liverpool, told The Washington Post that lots of people already live in what could be described as a 15-minute city (or a 20-minute neighbourhood, a similar concept).

For instance, his analysis of Liverpool showed that about 21 percent of residents lived in a 20-minute neighbourhood.

Moreno has claimed since Paris' adoption of the concept, there have "since been a range of high-profile local adaptations in cities, including Rome, Milan, Zurich, Ottawa, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Melbourne, Sousse,  Busan, Shanghai, Chengdu, Baoding, Cleveland, Columbus, and Pleszew and more and more cities and urbanists are rethinking urban development in terms of proximity."

Why Are Conspiracy Theorists Opposed to Such Cities?

While some critics of 15-minute cities are against the restrictions being placed on motorists, others believe that the concept is part of a wider conspiracy to control people’s freedoms and confine them to their neighbourhoods.

Sander van der Linden, author of Foolproof: Why We Fall for Misinformation and How to Build Immunity, explained to The Washington Post that the controversy surrounding 15-minute cities is not motivated by specific policy details.

Rather, she elaborated, it is motivated by a broader narrative, which is common to many conspiracy theories, in which people believe a higher power is taking control away from them.

In December last year, Canadian right-wing commentator Jordan Peterson shared an article about Oxford’s 15-minute city with his Twitter followers.

“The idea that neighborhoods should be walkable is lovely. The idea that idiot tyrannical bureaucrats can decide by fiat where you’re ‘allowed’ to drive is perhaps the worst imaginable perversion of that idea – and, make no mistake, it’s part of a well-documented plan,” Jordon Peterson claimed.

Though Peterson did not elaborate on what the plan was, viral TikToks have taken it a few steps further, referring to plans in Canada and the UK. One British TikTok user claimed, falsely, that it would mean requiring a permit to leave your zone.

Other high-profile, right-wing figures also got involved, including Nigel Farage, Katie Hopkins, and Lawrence Fox. Farage tweeted, "The climate change lockdowns are coming" in response to Canterbury’s innocuous traffic filtering scheme, while Oxford’s plans triggered similar ripples of incredulous fury.

A few online forums have claimed that the concept of a 15-minute city represents the first step towards a Hunger Games-like society, in which residents will not be allowed to leave their designated areas.

On 9 February, the conspiracy even made it to the British House of Commons where Conservative Party MP Nick Fletcher asked for a “debate on the international socialist concept.”

Why Is Oxford at the Centre of the Debate?

At the centre of the debate on the concept of 15-minute cities is the UK's Oxford locality. Thousands gathered last weekend to protest new traffic measures being brought in by the Oxford City Council.

Last year, when the English cities of Oxford and Canterbury proposed new traffic filtering schemes aimed at bringing down air pollution and making bus routes faster, unfounded fears about climate lockdowns were already brewing.

These plans are not strictly to do with 15-minute cities at all, but in the world of conspiracy mongering, they have been associated with other initiatives such as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) and Ultra-Low Emissions Zones in London.

LTNs have proved to be unpopular with some motorists, who are unable to move about their local area as they please.

Some local business owners have argued that they have lost trade through LTNs, while residents in nearby main roads fear pollution is being diverted to their streets.

There has been vehement opposition to city councils in the UK wanting to implement LTNs. On 19 February, thousands of people protested in Oxford against plans to introduce LTNs in the city.

The council’s plan aims to limit traffic travelling between neighbourhoods, instead pushing it out to the city’s ring road. Drivers will face £70 fines if they are caught on camera moving across town on local streets.

Are 15-Minute Cities Coercive?

Moreno denied that the concept of 15-minute is about coercive measures.

"Clearly, the 15-minute city implementation is not about coercive measures, restrictive obligations. It is really about creating a city that makes people want to live there," he said.

"The 15-minute city is not about confining or restricting, but about freeing up time for citizens. It is not about preventing movement, but about giving everyone the choice to move. It is about stopping the long and tiring journeys that are forced by the current urban model," Moreno told The Quint.

He added that it is a proposal of happy proximity, not a prison. Apart from reducing car use, the concept also aims to improve public spaces, meeting places and facilities in the area, he pointed out.

"It is not just about removing what is harmful to the environment, it is about adding what is good for neighbourhood life. Instead of being locked up in the car, the metro, the TV and computer screens, the proposal is also to enjoy the public spaces, to move for good sports," Moreno further said.