Interview with Carlos Moreno, creator of this concept adopted by many mayors all over the world. The case of Buenos Aires.
we interviewed Carlo Morenocreator of the time period ‘Metropolis of 15 minutes’, which has been adopted by many mayors all over the world. This visionary Franco-Colombian researcher defined why the pandemic confirmed his imaginative and prescient it might be put into apply.
This concept is predicated on decreasing our time on buses and subways, in order that residents can reside near their place of business, but additionally near a hospital or well being heart, near supermarkets, cinemas and theaters, soccer fields and gymnasiums .
This suggests get rid of pointless shifts, reside town in another way, with a distinct rhythm. That our shifts are chosen, that they don’t seem to be necessary.
– Are you able to give us particular examples of city planning tasks by mayors who’ve put your idea into apply?
-In South Korea, I can inform you about an instance within the nation’s second largest metropolis, Busan, which is understood for its know-how. The mayor has launched the idea of the “Metropolis of 15 Minutes” since 2020 through the pandemic.
– Have you ever been to Busan?
– I used to be there and found that the guts of the city corridor, a type of open courtyard, was redesigned to create a playful instructional heart for youngsters and their mother and father. You’ll find there tales, narrations, a library, digital parts.
-What conclusion did you draw?
The mayor advised me that he took into consideration what I mentioned concerning the 15-minute metropolis, particularly that each sq. meter can be utilized a number of instances. As a result of not solely are we losing our time transferring garbage, however we’re additionally losing sq. meters in too many buildings as a result of they’re solely getting used for one factor. Subsequently, when the exercise ends, they continue to be closed. This mayor set an instance by putting in a fun-educational heart for households.
Buenos Aires
-And in Latin America?
– I used to be in Buenos Aires lately. The micro heart of this metropolis was a enterprise hub with solely buildings to work in. However for the reason that pandemic, folks haven’t returned to those buildings and this micro heart has virtually no exercise.
Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta has due to this fact determined to incorporate it within the 15 Minutes Metropolis undertaking, in order that these buildings will probably be redesigned to create a mixture of completely different makes use of. On this means, public house can be utilized not just for vehicles, but additionally for different actions.
– Are you able to give us an instance from Paris the place your idea was born?
-The primary motion taken by Mayor Ana Hidalgo – who’s the co-author of this idea and for that reason I pay tribute to her all around the world, as a result of with out her this might not have had this world virality – was the opening of the schoolyards through the weekend. week.
This was the primary time for the reason that creation of public colleges in France. It was the primary time a college had opened its weekend terraces for non-educational actions. Think about what these locked locations prepared for use are like.
These areas are restored for a number of actions. That is how closeness and social curiosity are regenerated. This proximity results in new financial fashions due to commerce, due to the actions of well being facilities, due to cultural actions. It is a bit “creativeness to energy”.
-What affect did the curfew have in your idea of the 15-minute metropolis?
– Individuals realized that it was doable to launch it as a result of there have been lots of motion restrictions. I offered this idea publicly in 2016, after the COP 21, which was an vital world aspect within the struggle in opposition to world warming.
When the pandemic hit, the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, in whose metropolis the affect was dramatic, took up this idea as a component of reflection. He advised me that this idea of the 15-minute metropolis can be the important thing to security earlier than the pandemic, as a result of we discovered to work in another way: we had to make use of new applied sciences, store close to the place we reside as a result of we could not go far to find our close by inexperienced areas, to speak to our kids and never solely to speak with them by way of WhatsApp. Additionally conduct social actions within the neighborhood.
This Mayor held a press convention within the midst of the pandemic in Could 2020, together with the Metropolis of 15 Minutes as a part of the pandemic exit technique.
The writer is a journalist for RFI