Kate Soper and Martin Ryle dismiss the UK government's current claim that
'15 minute cities' are a sinister ploy to restrict people's rights. They point out this urban planning initiative was introduced in The Netherlands, more than 50 years ago. The concept aimed to produce less car-dominated streets (The Netherlands has even less space per person than the UK). It did this by enabling able-bodied folk to
choose to walk or cycle to all their necessary amenities (shops, post-offices, libraries etc). Soper and Ryle think it's bizzare that people putting in place initiatives for improving air quality (like ULEZ) and pedestrianised streets (like 20 mph speed limits), are dismissed as 'enthusiasts of totalitarian traffic management' attacking car drivers. The UK's Prime Minister even maintains that the 'embattled' driver should be able 'to use their cars to do all things that matter to them'. Should, however, initiatives designed to provide safer, pleasanter and more sustainable urban living, be condemned as an attack on driver freedoms? (
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/05/tories-15-minute-cities-sinister-rishi-sunak-motorists-woke). One must add to this the concept of
One Earth Living. Even economists now recognise that our planet has finite resources. If everyone lived like a Chinese citizen, we would need 1.1 Earths (10% more resources than we actually have). If, however, they used the resources of a citizen of the USA or the UAE, respectively 4.1 and 5.4 Earths would be needed. One must also add that some US citizens use massively more resources than others. Also, in countries currently using less than their share of resources (e.g. Bangadesh, India and Uganda), many of their citizens (not unreasonably) aspire to a USA life style. Fairly obviously, 'we have a problem, Houston'. If we are going to survive on our very singular planet, some of the main users of resources will have to curb their activities. The
15 minute city is only a modest urban planning concept, which helps that process. It also makes cities (where more and more folk live) more tolerable.
The UK government continue their quest to turn England's rivers back into sewers. They first facilitated the privatised water companies...
Garden plants in France, The Netherlands, The UK and Sikkim (NE India).
1 comment:
Some academics think this is the first example of a UK government 'leaning in' to a conspiracy 'theory'. As its originators point out, the 15-minute city is a attempt to improve city living, especially when more people now work from home.
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