Urbanland
Summary
The concept of the “15-minute city”—in which all human needs are within reach by walking or bicycling for 15 minutes or less—has gained momentum among urbanists, planners, designers, and policymakers. Brought to popularity by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who made it a cornerstone of her successful 2020 reelection campaign, the concept is being embraced by planners in cities from Singapore to Brooklyn to Portland, Oregon, all working toward visions of their own version.
The 15-minute city highlights human scale and decentralization as core themes in pursuit of a more transparent, reliable, and flexible transportation system. If people live within a short distance of food suppliers, health services, and employment, they are less affected if the bus is late, the subway floods, or a taxi is stuck in traffic.
De-infrastructuring is a term I use to describe the breaking down of large-scale infrastructure systems, more closely connecting supply (sources and distribution) with demand, and creating community-scale investment in urban systems. De-infrastructuring energy systems entails breaking down large-scale utility generation and bringing distributed power generation closer to the demand. Microgrids, district thermal energy systems, and integrated solar power de-infrastructure the grid and provide a wide range of community benefits.
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