The concept of 15-minute cities continues to dominate mainstream coverage of urban planning.
Championed by Professor Carlos Moreno of Sorbonne University, the concept is regarded as a means of creating more sustainable and liveable urban environments. The intention is for all essential amenities and services, including housing, workplaces, shops, schools, healthcare, and parks to be located within a 15-minute walk or cycle from the home.
Paris, London, Melbourne, Shanghai, and Houston and more have since formally employed its tenets in pursuit of the following benefits:
- Improved quality of life – less time commuting and sitting in traffic congestion frees up time to spend with family and pursuing leisure activities.
- Sustainability and active lifestyles- a localised community can lower emissions by reducing personal reliance on car to access services and facilitate sustainable patterns of consumption.
- Localised economic development- living locally means spending locally, supporting local businesses within our community.
- Social inclusion- by reducing spatial inequalities, we will strengthen social inclusion and cohesion across more diverse, mixed-income neighbourhoods.
Why so divisive?
There has been over a century of discourse on placing the individual at the heart of the city so why has the desire to create walkable cities been so polarising in the media?
As the concept of 15-minute cities continues to disseminate down the settlement hierarchy that it seeks to replace, opposition considers the theory to be a top-down enforcement on social change.
Branded an ‘international socialist concept’ by Conservative Party MP Nick Fletcher in a UK parliamentary debate in February 2023 and a ‘deeply illiberal...un-British’ abstraction by GB News’ Mark Dolan, some have misconstrued Moreno’s concept as a dystopian segregation of the city into fortress-esque compounds following the Coronavirus pandemic.
Although this critique is somewhat Orwellian, there are some valid points for consideration. Whilst the work from home era has left many professional service sector workers craving social integration, many people are still reliant on commuting and car usage to travel to work and may see the theory as compromising their needs.
Though pedestrianisation is dystopian in the eyes of Alan Partridge’s “dead against it” in the wake of depriving traders access to Dixons, we must also not neglect those with accessible needs that may be reliant on cars to reach essential services in the attempt to create more ‘inclusive’ neighbourhoods.
Manchester as an organic growth model?
Living in Manchester and working across the North West, it is clear that local authorities are beginning to explore the potential of 15-minute cities. Its sister-theory of 20-minute neighbourhoods has even been identified by the Central Lancashire authorities and featured in its Preferred Options consultation as a model for growth.
Although Manchester is yet to formally embrace the theory, the application of place-making principles is beginning to transform the city in the formation of one of the UK’s most up and coming cities.
Waves of infrastructural improvements and pedestrianisation continue to change Manchester’s cityscape. Fuelled by pavement licenses and outdoor dining in the gradual reassimilation of society during Covid, the catalyst in the pedestrianisation of key public places including Stevenson Square and Cutting Room Square has been maintained.
The cityscape is also radically changing with high-density apartment blocks emerging across the city. Many of these developments are located more peripherally on the edge of the city centre, such as Deansgate Square and Greengate. Although, these areas are beginning to develop their own character, Ancoats has emerged as the jewel in the city’s crown as a major regeneration project.
Branded a ‘former industrial wasteland’ by Manchester City Council itself, Ancoats is a prime case study of how regeneration and the central tenets of 15-minute cities have been employed organically in the North West, with no formal adoption of the theory.
Regeneration commenced in the 1990s and Ancoats is now home to artisanal bakeries, the Hip Hop Fish and Chip Shop, and Manchester’s first Michelin Star restaurant for over 40 years- Ancoats is a far cry from its former reputation on the metaphorical wrong side of the tracks north of the City’s ring road.
Ancoats is far and away the most desirable neighbourhood in proximity to Manchester City Centre, and as the most apt example of what placemaking principles can achieve. It has harnessed a reputation as a localised neighbourhood within the wider city but this does not come without a price... (approximately £50,000 more than the average price in the wider city centre for a residential property in fact).
The successes are beginning to disseminate across the city as Salford City Council adopted its Development Framework for Chapel Wharf in May 2022 with the ambition of creating a ’15-minute neighbourhood’ in the heart of its city centre.
If Greater Manchester authorities are inspired to formally adopt 15-minute cities as is the case in Salford, the following lessons from Ancoats’ experience of placemaking-led regeneration must inform the future direction to create truly inclusive and walkable communities for all:
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Socioeconomic Disparities and Distribution
15-minute cities seek to facilitate social inclusion and participation and therefore development should seek to be integrated uniformly across the wider city. If only certain neighbourhoods are identified for growth, 15-minute cities could enhance further isolation and exclusion of lower income areas.
As shown by Ancoats, neighbourhoods with accessible amenities and services are highly attractive and this is reflected by property prices.
More even distribution of 15-minute city driven development and placemaking will improve the condition of the urban environment more broadly.
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Gradual but progressive change
Although 15-minute cities have been regarded by some as a paradigm shift, there must be an acceptance that change will be long term ambition. Placemaking and mixed use development are organically producing high-quality development, but further public and private sector cooperation is essential if 15-minute cities are to become a reality.
Increased public consultation will promote the conversation from communities, dispel misinformation, and address the top-down approach that has been highlighted by opposition.
Active pursuit of an improved network of pedestrian and cycle infrastructure should facilitate more sustainable city life, but not excluded vulnerable people. 15-minute cities should not solely seek to improve the lives of the ‘WFH professional’, but should seek to enhance the lives of all, including those with accessible needs or those with maintained car reliance.
If the purpose is to create liveable cities, it is critical that the public have a voice in shaping their communities.
Given the ongoing examination of the Places for Everyone Plan seeking to create a joint development plan for GMCA, it will be interesting to see the role that neighbourhood level planning plays in shaping future communities. However, the question remains, will the media spotlight fade or will the 15-minute cities theory continue to build traction across the North West?
