B2 reading: The fifteen-minute city

Imagine being able to reach almost everything you need in daily life within a fifteen-minute walk or bike ride from home: your work, a school, a doctor, shops and a park. That is the basic idea of the "fifteen-minute city", a concept that a number of city governments around the world have taken up, most famously Paris.

The concept is a reaction against the way many cities developed in the twentieth century. Planners often separated different activities: people lived in residential suburbs, worked in business districts and shopped in out-of-town shopping centres, with cars connecting the three. The result, critics say, was traffic, pollution and long commutes that left people with little time for family, friends or rest. Neighbourhoods that were busy during the day could feel empty and unsafe at night.

Supporters of the fifteen-minute city want to bring these activities back together. In practice, this can mean allowing small shops and offices on residential streets, opening school playgrounds to the public at weekends, turning car parking spaces into cycle lanes or small green areas, and making sure that every neighbourhood has basic services such as a health centre. The aim is not to stop people from travelling across the city, but to make it possible to live well without having to.

The benefits, if the idea works, are considerable. Fewer car journeys mean cleaner air and less noise. Walking and cycling are good for health. Local shops and cafés gain customers, and people who see their neighbours regularly are more likely to know and help one another.

The concept has also attracted strong criticism. Some worry that it will benefit wealthy central districts, which already have good services, while doing little for poorer outer areas where shops and clinics have closed. Others point out that many people cannot choose to work near their home, particularly if they have specialised jobs. In some places, the idea has become the subject of misleading claims online, with people wrongly suggesting that residents would be fined for leaving their own neighbourhood. Planners have repeatedly explained that no such restrictions are proposed, but the controversy shows how sensitive questions about cars and freedom of movement can be.

Even some supporters accept that fifteen minutes is more a guiding principle than a strict rule. In a dense European capital, it may be a realistic target; in a spread-out city built around the car, it may take decades to achieve, if it can be achieved at all. Still, the underlying question seems likely to remain on planners' agendas: should a city be designed mainly for moving through, or for living in?