Oxford, Bristol and Sheffield embrace 15-minute city: Is the concept a boon or a curse? 

Have you ever sat behind the wheel, seething with rage because new bollards prevent you from taking a shortcut?

Or swerve to avoid a rarely used bike path? Then there is a good chance that you will experience the latest concept in urban planning: the 15-minute city.

This scheme, developed by the French-Colombian scientist Carlos Moreno, proposes that people should be able to find all the amenities they need – shops, health care, schools, leisure – within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from their home.

The goal is to remove the need for people to visit city centers (and even if they do, it’s probably only by public transport), reducing car use and benefiting the environment.

Rat-run roads will be cordoned off so people can form community-based urban villages.

The idea is gaining ground. The borough councils of Oxford, Bristol, Canterbury and Sheffield have all floated plans to introduce elements of the 15-minute city, while Bath is also paying lip service to it.

King Charles’s pet development project, Poundbury in Dorset, is built along 15-minute city lines, with businesses and homes adjacent to each other.

The 15 minute city has its critics. Some argue that pressuring people to stay in their own neighborhoods is an outrageous attack on their personal freedom.

They further state that it will have a disastrous effect on city centers, creating more empty stores.

Nick Fletcher, Tory MP for Don Valley, spoke in the House of Commons, describing it as an ‘international socialist concept’ and calling for a debate.

Planners and architects disagree. “The goal is not to shut down communities,” said Jorge Beroiz, director of award-winning architecture firm CRTK.

“When carefully adapted to the existing environment, the 15-minute city is about choice – to buy necessities like half a liter of milk or to have a drink with your friends – without having to get in your car.”

Here are three cities that are planning to make the 15-minute city a reality.

Oxford debate

Plans for 15-minute zones in the city of dreaming spires provoked locals last month.

Up to 2,000 clashed with police outraged by the Local Plan 2040, which will see traffic filters installed on six roads, allowing motorists to move freely around their own neighborhoods but face fines of up to £70 if they pass through the filters.

Oxford has some of the most expensive houses in the country. North Oxford and Summertown are notoriously pricey, and in Jericho, like Hampstead in north London, seemingly modest terraced houses often sell for over £2 million.

“You get more real estate for your money in the Lye Valley area, where 1930s semis come with large yards,” says Jonathan Gregory of Humberts estate agents. ‘With a nature reserve and golf course nearby, it’s a good place for families.’

Join a Bath hub

During the pandemic, many Bath residents became accustomed to working from home, shopping and socializing in local ‘hubs’.

The municipality has further developed this trend in its version of the 15-minute city, with the aim of being CO2 neutral by 2030. An ambitious question, because the amount of traffic in the city has doubled since 1990.

Bath has an irresistible charm with its galleries, historic pubs and coffee shops. Home prices are skyrocketing, fueled in part by Airbnb investors. A three-bedroom apartment in one of the stately homes in the Landsdown area will set you back at least £2 million.

Bear Flat is popular because it is close to shops and a park. A three-bedroom Edwardian house sold there before Christmas for £942,000. The average price of a home last year was £634,000, which is 17 per cent more than the previous year.

clear Canterbury

Although impressive, with beautiful Georgian houses, a limestone cathedral and medieval streets, Canterbury often feels packed with traffic.

To combat this, the municipality proposes to divide the city into five zones and fine motorists who cross them.

To travel around the city, you must drive to the outskirts of the city and onto the suggested eastern bypass before re-entering.

This has enraged many people, including former Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, who told Kent Online: ‘It paints a grim picture of a dystopian future of people under constant mass surveillance.’

The most desirable homes are located within the city walls. St Dunstan’s has a boho feel and is close to the High Speed ​​1 service from Canterbury West station.

Homes in the city sold for a relatively modest average of £347,000 last year.

So will the 15-minute city of Canterbury make it even more attractive and raise house prices? The jury is still out.