13-02-2024, 07:36 AM
Carlo Ratti, Arianna Salazar-Miranda
UPDATED FEB 12, 2024, 11:00 AM SGT
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As researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, we had a question: Can America – the land of the free and the home of the sprawl – re-weave its urban fabric according to the 15-minute city model and achieve greater walkability?
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The overwhelming majority of Americans have never experienced anything resembling a 15-minute city.
The median resident, we found, makes only 14 per cent of his consumption trips within a 15-minute walking radius. We are used to a world where every errand is an epic road trip, and we hardly notice the high costs we pay in time, petrol, parking spaces and pollution.
......
Many north-eastern communities are quite walkable – New York City enjoys a 15-minute usage of 42 per cent. Unfortunately, some of the fastest-growing parts of the country have the lowest levels of 15-minute usage.
In Atlanta, for example, only 10 per cent of trips occur in a 15-minute radius. It would be difficult to retrofit Atlanta – and other car-centric cities like Phoenix and Dallas – for tight clusters of walkable amenities.
The suburbs would be even harder. When lawns and parking spaces stretch as far as the eye can see, walkability sounds like a pipe dream.
But despite the challenges intrinsic to US planning, American people aren’t naturally allergic to the 15-minute city as a concept; on the contrary, they gravitate to it.
......
Even after a century of homogenous zoning and automobiles, Americans automatically use a 15-minute city if they can.
Moreover, Americans build 15-minute neighbourhoods naturally when given the opportunity. Part of our study focused specifically on New York, where a 1961 zoning code was looser in some neighbourhoods than others. When the city permitted more commercial development, a mix of 15-minute amenities naturally emerged by themselves.
......
If implemented correctly, the 15-minute city can be an agent of freedom: freedom from traffic jams, freedom to live in a healthy environment and freedom to be outside.
......
With the 15-minute principle, we can liberate the one thing we cannot make more of: time.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/ca...-in-the-us
UPDATED FEB 12, 2024, 11:00 AM SGT
......
As researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, we had a question: Can America – the land of the free and the home of the sprawl – re-weave its urban fabric according to the 15-minute city model and achieve greater walkability?
......
The overwhelming majority of Americans have never experienced anything resembling a 15-minute city.
The median resident, we found, makes only 14 per cent of his consumption trips within a 15-minute walking radius. We are used to a world where every errand is an epic road trip, and we hardly notice the high costs we pay in time, petrol, parking spaces and pollution.
......
Many north-eastern communities are quite walkable – New York City enjoys a 15-minute usage of 42 per cent. Unfortunately, some of the fastest-growing parts of the country have the lowest levels of 15-minute usage.
In Atlanta, for example, only 10 per cent of trips occur in a 15-minute radius. It would be difficult to retrofit Atlanta – and other car-centric cities like Phoenix and Dallas – for tight clusters of walkable amenities.
The suburbs would be even harder. When lawns and parking spaces stretch as far as the eye can see, walkability sounds like a pipe dream.
But despite the challenges intrinsic to US planning, American people aren’t naturally allergic to the 15-minute city as a concept; on the contrary, they gravitate to it.
......
Even after a century of homogenous zoning and automobiles, Americans automatically use a 15-minute city if they can.
Moreover, Americans build 15-minute neighbourhoods naturally when given the opportunity. Part of our study focused specifically on New York, where a 1961 zoning code was looser in some neighbourhoods than others. When the city permitted more commercial development, a mix of 15-minute amenities naturally emerged by themselves.
......
If implemented correctly, the 15-minute city can be an agent of freedom: freedom from traffic jams, freedom to live in a healthy environment and freedom to be outside.
......
With the 15-minute principle, we can liberate the one thing we cannot make more of: time.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/ca...-in-the-us