The first city to be built from scratch and everything will be 15 minutes apart

Modern metropolises now tend to resemble huge cages of tons of cement that extend as far as our eye can see. The conditions in the big cities are now suffocating and the climate crisis together with the continuing -unreasonable- obsession of man in the orders of a development model that is not sustainable, make things worse. And the two and a half years of the coronavirus pandemic came to ring a huge bell that says “do something right away.”

This “do something” is being studied by various experts and a collaboration of architects, urban planners and other related scientists came up with the idea of ​​”city ​​of 15 minutes». A city that is, urban planning makes it possible to perform most daily tasks with a short walk or bike ride. That is, within a quarter.

In Paris, one of the first cities to support the idea of ​​such a city, it was already quite easy to get around without a car before the current mayor even started making changes. In a typical vast American suburb, it is more difficult to transform roads designed for driving.

But in her Draper Jutea suburb of Salt Lake City, a new neighborhood designed from the ground up to help residents avoid the need for cars.

What is the “The Point” project

In contrast to another new urban development under construction in the suburbs of Phoenix, which states that it is car-free, Utah’s project, called “The Point,” does not consider it necessary for residents to abandon altogether. their cars, just that they will drive much less.

“One of our goals is to create what we call a car community,” said Alan Matheson, executive director of The Point of the Mountain State Land Authority, the government agency that leads the project, which takes place on state-owned land. “We know there will be those who want more than one vehicle, but we believe we can design it in a way that we would not need.”

The site, which now houses a prison to be demolished this summer, is large, just over 600 acres. To have a picture in correspondence it is larger than the whole country of Monaco or about 70% of Central Park in New York. It is also the perfect size for a 15 minute city idea.

“It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to walk from the center to the edge, depending on how fast you walk,” says Peter Kindel, director of urban planning at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, a world-renowned design and engineering company. who developed the organization chart of a plan to be used to build the neighborhood, which will include 7,400 households.

How to build a city where all distances can be made on foot

The plan calls for a network of open spaces so that residents can walk through car-free linear parks in various parts of the neighborhood to reach offices, schools or shops, all built in mixed-use areas.

“You will be able to move around the project in the open space system and have access to almost every part of the project city,” says Kindel. Roads will allow cars, but will also give priority to bike lanes and wide sidewalks. People living in the neighborhood will be able to board a high-speed bus system to nearby Salt Lake City or Provo. A small bus, which can move independently, will circle the neighborhood for those who need to get a job done quickly and do not want to walk or ride a bike.

Mobility hubs will offer public cars, bicycles and scooters.

The harmonious coexistence of urban environment and nature

A trail will also lead through the site to a new footbridge over a motorway to a leisure trail by the river. The other side of the neighborhood will be connected by hiking or cycling in the mountains.

“I think that’s where urban planning and the future of cities come in – this idea of ​​’biomorphic urbanization’, where people both want to connect with nature and want to connect with each other,” says Kindel. “And they do not want to spend all day in a car stuck or driving.” The trail that will reconnect the river and the mountains will also help the wildlife to move between the open spaces.

Communication with the community is a key driver of development

Because the land belongs to the state, the government went through a long process asking the community how it wanted the new city to develop. “We heard loud and clear from them that the principles of a more convenient, less car-focused development and a little more compact and comfortable in a community would be appealing,” says Matheson.

Utah’s population is growing rapidly and “people here are worried about what this growth means,” he says. “How will it affect our enviable quality of life?” “I think more and more, residents are open to looking for ways in which we can grow more carefully, in a way that preserves the beauty of the area and improves our air quality and minimizes congestion.”

Some residents may have to realize that they will probably have to give up car ownership. “The idea here is that it will become, among other things, a commercial hub and an opportunity for the state to attract younger workers in the field of technology or in the field of science, and we know that these workers do not want to live in the suburbs. “At least not as the suburbs are today,” says Kindel. “They want more urban features, they want to get to know their neighbors, they want to be part of a community. “They do not want to spend their day driving.”

Although the location is unique – and may be the first real 15-minute city built in the US – Kindel says the ideas can be replicated in other cities. “We believe it could be a prototype for other American suburbs,” he said.

“Specifically, in cities like Denver and Dallas. In many of these cities, there are underutilized areas, old industrial sites, which may not be 600 acres in a row, but may be 100 acres or 200 acres. Thus, we believe that the idea can be transferred elsewhere. “But cities need to commit to a number of issues, such as open space, and a rethinking of their road design.”