Auckland's transport woes may present a challenge to the idea of creating a 15-minute city. Photo / NZME
Conspiracy theories constantly grip the world and the latest involves ... urban planning.
The concept of 15-minute cities is that all daily necessities – such as work, shopping, education, healthcare, and leisure – can all be reached with a 15-minute walk, bike ride, or public transit.
From Barcelona to Paris, Oxford to Edmonton, governments worldwide are embracing them.
But conspiracy theorists have described the move as an instrument of government repression.
Right-wing circles fear the loss of personal freedoms and have questioned whether we could be mandated to stay within our 15-minute bubble.
University of Auckland School of Architecture and Planning lecturer Bill McKay told The Front Page that New Zealand has grown up as a country used to suburbs.
“So the idea of living very close to where you work, play or study is unusual,” he said.
“It [the idea] comes out of a movement called ‘New Urbanism’ which was a reaction in the 1980s to 100 years of suburbia and commuting.
“Commuting was not too bad when it was first envisaged as being on a train or public transport. But, then the car took over and we got traffic jams.
“It sprang up all over the world, particularly in big cities like Manhattan.
“The work commute is the big problem because so many of us are used to getting in our cars and driving to work. Even living on one side of a big city, like Auckland, and feeling like it’s normal to drive to another end of the city. We all end up sitting in traffic and it just doesn’t make sense,” he said.
The theory made its way to New Zealand in 2020 when Hamilton City Council announced its vision for a 20-minute city.
Councillor Angela O’Leary, chair of the council’s Infrastructure Operations Committee, said referring to the project as “ground-breaking” is a massive understatement.
“The 20-minute city concept, if implemented, would put Hamilton at the cutting edge of global research into holistic city planning, providing a living laboratory for social improvement through integration of urban design, environmental sustainability and ‘people-first’ infrastructure,” a release said.
But, the push came with backlash and forced councillors to flee a 2023 public meeting planned to discuss the idea. They were met with jeers, promises of an overthrow, and a man calling for a citizen’s arrest of them.
At the time, O’Leary called it the most disorderly event she’d seen in 16 years in local politics.
McKay thinks the concept’s inception and the subsequent backlash have much to do with our reliance on cars.
“New Zealanders almost see their cars like Americans see their guns. Like, ‘don’t you dare try and take that off me’.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about how 15-minute cities work and whether they could be applied in New Zealand.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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