The madness of the '15-minute city'
The green agenda is taking inspiration from the illiberal days of lockdown. | Today, planners are gripped by an anti-car ideology. Their focus is less on helping people get around than in reducing our use of cars by any means necessary. To this end, Oxfordshire County Council, which is run by Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party, wants to divide the city of Oxford into six "15-minute" districts. In these districts, it is said, most household essentials will be accessible by a quarter-of-an-hour walk or bike ride, and so residents will have no need for a car. On the surface, these 15-minute neigbourhoods might sound pleasant and convenient. But there is a coercive edge... Under the new proposals, if any of Oxford's 150,000 residents drives outside of their designated district more than 100 days a year, he or she could be fined £70. Run by a Labour administration, Oxford City Council takes a similar line. Its Local Plan 2040 "places a strong emphasis upon the concept of the 15-minute city." ● So where did this ‘15-minute city’ concept come from? The answer is: from an unholy mix of the UK Labour Party, the American plutocracy, the United Nations and French academia.