Is it possible to think of turning Guayaquil into a 15-minute city?
Climate change is undoubtedly an effect that concerns everyone, and the main contributor is the city itself. According to the United Nations (UN), 55% of the world's population is living in cities, with a projected growth of at least 13% by 2050. Over the years, with this accelerated growth of the population living in cities, inhabitants have sought to settle in the outskirts of the city, creating the need to move long distances.
Although citizens seek places away from the fast-paced life of the city, in addition to the housing projects implemented by governments, it is no less true that this behavior indirectly influences climate change, and one of the reasons for this is the use of public and private transportation.
Urban planner Carlos Moreno is the proponent of the concept of the 15-minute city. This concept seeks to revitalize proximity and, in a way, return to neighborhood life. In other words, this revitalization allows the user to have six types of urban facilities within 15 minutes' reach, either by bicycle or on foot. These facilities are: housing, office, retail, health, cultural and recreational.
It may seem impossible to implement concepts such as this in established cities, but in cities such as Paris, this project has been considered with interventions in different aspects. It has been proposed that schools, which are closed on weekends, open their doors for other purposes on Saturdays and Sundays. They have also established spaces (within the neighborhoods) for cultural activities, spaces for urban artists. This is how the inhabitants of the different neighborhoods can access the different activities within the same sector, i.e., 15 minutes away from each other, thus generating a polycentric city.
Beyond minimizing the impact that transportation, whether public or private, has on the environment, this proximity of services allows for greater relationships between individuals, in a world where technology has captured the attention of children, adolescents and adults, thus creating safer and more inclusive spaces. For this it is necessary to implement and provide alternative transportation services. Today we see bike rental stations, scooters, and others.
This concept of city model has gained strength in the last two years, due to how the pandemic has affected the development of human activities, for example, restriction in mobility schedules. Also, the responsibility, adopted by many, about the care of the environment, has made people look for another type of transportation, which would also be facilitated with the implementation of the 15-minute city concept.
The evolution of the city, its accelerated growth, generates different dynamics that must allow citizens to carry out their daily activities in a pleasant, safe and inclusive space.
“We are not just spectators but actors sharing the stage with all the other participants.” Kevin Lynch
Natalie Wong Chauvet
Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Design
