15-minute cities, 20-minute neighbourhoods and 30-second offices

There’s been a lot of talk in the news lately about 15-minute cities. This – along with the accompanying term, 20-minute neighbourhoods – is derived from a proposal by the urbanist Carlos Moreno to make cities and neighbourhoods that have all the important amenities accessible in a 15-20 minute walk.

Carlos makes a number of points that resonate greatly with our own architectural-scale efforts:

We need to rethink cities around the four guiding principles that are the key building blocks of the 15-minute city. First, ecology: for a green and sustainable city. Second, proximity: to live with reduced distance to other activities. Third, solidarity: to create links between people. Finally, participation should actively involve citizens in the transformation of their neighborhood.

And

The 15-minute city should have three key features. First, the rhythm of the city should follow humans, not cars. Second, each square meter should serve many different purposes. Finally, neighborhoods…

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