¿El modelo de ciudad de 15 minutos promete un mejor estilo de vida?

Looking out from the descending airplane window at night, I follow the spiderwebs of lights growing bigger and brighter. The delicate spindles turn into busy highways, the small pearls of light grow into crossroads and squares, and all the darker spaces in between take the shape of parks and residences. What one sees outside of the window of a plane at night is the true soul of a city: a network of light and life. 

Cities are complicated systems of human interaction and concrete infrastructure, which are somehow supposed to exist in symbiosis. Just like the spiderwebs they often resemble when looked at from a bird's eye view, their resilience is in their flexibility. However, with urban growth that flexibility – of human mobility, of construction, of redefining routes and systems – lessens, thus also exposing the inherent fragility of cities. Air pollution, noise pollution, stress, relentless pace of economic development: it takes more and more out of the environment and of the people living in cities to keep them stable. 

A solution that has been growing in popularity is the [15-minute model](https://www.dezeen.com/2023/10/16/15-minute-city-guide/). It is at its core an attempt to reconnect people with each other and with the city by reinforcing the sub-networks within the cities. It is imagined that by providing all essential elements of urban life into an 800 meter walkshed from a (central) residential area – from grocery stores and parks to schools and kindergartens to workplaces and recreational facilities. The city would then become more of a conglomeration of hubs rather than the singular giant unit we are used to. It definitely comes with its perks: it would reduce car use by promoting walkability, thus also driving CO2 emissions down; it would offer more opportunities for [people to interact](https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20201214-how-15-minute-cities-will-change-the-way-we-socialise) with each other regularly and form stronger bonds; it would incentivize a better work-life balance by saving on commute time. [Conspiracy theorists](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/01/world/europe/15-minute-city-conspiracy.html) claim that the 15-minute city model is part of a larger plan to confine people to certain areas of town. That is – though – not the aim of the project, as the 15-minute plan will not restrict the movement of people rather it would take away the necessity of a long commute. 

While conspiracies about nefarious grand schemes concealed by promises of a better lifestyle have been debunked, there are certain aspects of the 15-minute model that have often been largely neglected at sustainability conferences where the plan has become a buzzword. To illustrate them, all we need to do is consider what we, NYU Abu Dhabi students, dislike about life on campus. In a way, NYUAD is a 15-minute city: we have all that is essential to us, the residents, facilities within walking distance, including a convenience store, a gym, a library, several different restaurants and cafes, an art gallery, and a concert space (or even three halls, actually). Life here is comfortable. Yet it feels isolating. For now, we have the incentive of going into the city for experiences such as shopping centers or cinemas with blockbuster movies, among many others. But if those were also within campus, there would be no reason for us to leave at all, considering that they are now building a mall next to campus that is soon going to become a reality In fact, we already are so busy that we can spend weeks on end without going out into the city. Now scale it all up.  

Centrar nuestra vida en la oficina tampoco parece ofrecer el equilibrio prometido entre la vida personal y laboral. Las personas necesitan un nivel de separación física de su trabajo para poder desconectar su mentalidad laboral (nuevamente, piense en los fines de semana o incluso en los descansos que pasó en el campus). Si la ubicación de su residencia se basa en la ubicación de su oficina, ¿no está su vida completamente centrada en su trabajo?

Esta ciudad, que se encuentra a 15 minutos, es también un modelo desarrollado en una zona donde es posible caminar, considerando el clima del lugar. Pero no sería razonable esperar una mejor transitabilidad a pie como resultado del plan en un clima seco, por ejemplo, como es el caso en los Emiratos Árabes Unidos. Hay otras medidas que se deben tomar primero para garantizar la seguridad de los residentes en condiciones climáticas extremas antes de que los formuladores de políticas consideren adoptar estos planes de desarrollo urbano.

Entonces, ¿cuál es la solución perfecta para la sostenibilidad urbana? La perfección no es algo que las ciudades puedan alcanzar, pero tal vez deberíamos seguir el corazón de la ciudad: las líneas y puntos más brillantes en la cuadrícula de la ciudad por la noche nos dicen mucho sobre dónde quiere ir la gente, estar y hacer juntos. Tal vez podamos aprender unos de otros y conectarnos con sistemas de transporte público seguros, reunirnos en pequeños espacios públicos de nuestros vecindarios y plantar jardines juntos en los parques. La integración, el compromiso y la imaginación pueden llevarnos más allá de una ciudad sostenible de sólo 15 minutos.

Yana Peeva es la editora jefe. Envíeles un correo electrónico a feedback@thegazelle.org.