Have you heard of the 15-minute City? If you haven’t, fear not. Basically, it’s an urban planning idea that all the services we use to create a meaningful life such as schools, shops, parks, etc. should be no further than 15 minutes away by foot, bike or public transport.
It’s a familiar urban pattern of development — the pursuit of walkable, mixed-used districts — and yet its benefits have been foregrounded since the pandemic, which spurred an urgency around equitable urban spaces.
Since it’s an idea that effectively suggests a particular way of living (and therefore, being), some people have been having a lot of fun online, developing arguments against the concept. In fact, these conspiracy theorists aren’t very distant from their ideological neighbours, including anti-vaxxers, anti-lockdown activists and climate deniers.
The latest spokesperson for this particular conspiracy is a 12-year old girl from the U.K. Over the weekend, the girl participated in a protest at Oxford, attended by over 2,000 people who aren’t happy about the city council’s development of a linked policy of 15-minute neighbourhoods as part of its Local Plan 2040.
The girl made a speech condemning the 15-minute concept, calling the idea a “dystopian reality” where “the greedy people” take control “…over everything we do.”
The threat of technology
In her speech, the girl posed the threat of surveillance measures in these proposed neighbourhoods.
“They will say, you can walk home! Would that be safe, for me, to walk home? Me, as a 12-year-old, walking home in the dark alone. Is that really going to be safe?” she said.
“Then they will say, ‘Oh, don’t worry about that. We’ve already thought of that. You will be safe. We will have a thousand cameras on the streets following you and tracking you all the way home. Oh, uh, just remember, it’s for your safety’.”
“Do you really think I want to be watched every second of the day?” she continued. “Are you serious? Thousands of cameras tracking my every move until I get home. At this point, I have to ask, is my safety that important to me, that I want to be followed by cameras all the way home? Or do I prefer to have freedom than privacy? And for your information, I still wouldn’t feel safe. No amount of cameras is going to stop someone who wants to attack me. I want to be safe, but not to the extent that I am prepared to give up my freedom and my privacy to have it.”
She then mocked climate change advocate Greta Thunberg by impersonating Thunberg’s voice as she said: “As a 12-year-old, I’m really concerned about my future. And to [World Economic Forum chairman] Klaus Schwab, I say this: How dare you!”
She then bursts into laughter, before rearranging her face to a serious expression.
“How dare you steal my childhood and my future, and the future of all children, by enslaving us in your crazy digital surveillance prison.”
According to Areeq Chowdhury, a data and digital technologies researcher in East London, the 15-minute neighbourhood has absolutely nothing to do with surveillance or control.
“It’s just about creating a sense of community and promoting active travel,” Areeq told WIRED, “I think often people overestimate the competence of authorities to conduct these kinds of [conspiracies].”
Climate Change
The 12-year old also took a swipe at climate change, saying that it was being used to “control” citizens and “nudge us in the direction the greedy people want us to go.”
“Let’s say my friend lives in Zone 3 and I’m in Zone 1,” she began. “If, for example, I went to my friend’s house in Zone 3, my parents normally come and pick me up in their car – it only takes 10 minutes.”
“So does that mean that they would have to go round the ring road and back into town again? If my mum or dad had to drive around the ring road, it would take 30 minutes, causing much more pollution and leaving a much bigger carbon footprint.”
“These are the first steps of a dystopian reality, called 15-minute neighbourhoods. From a small seed, a huge tree can grow. Climate change is being used to control us.”
“Our government has been hijacked by greedy and selfish impostors posing as politicians…who want total control over everything we do, everything we think, and everything we say”.
“They believe they are better than us and masters over us. And until this problem is effectively dealt with, the tyranny will continue.”
Rise of conspiracy theory
The footage of the girl’s speech has been posted on social media by groups including the U.S anti-vaccine organisation, Children’s Health Defense, inviting rallying support from right-wing pundits.
Conspiracy theorists have been developing their #15MinuteCity conspiracy since 2020, after the World Economic Forum launched their post-pandemic recovery initiative called “the Great Reset” which the theorists interpreted as governments restricting people’s freedoms — from using their cars, travelling outside assigned districts or eating meat.
Prominent figures have been weighing in on the conspiracy, including alt-right figure Jordan Peterson, change deniers Steve Milloy and Marc Morano, and Conservative Party member Nick Fletcher, who said in Parliament earlier this month that 15-minute cities are an “international socialist concept” that would “take away our personal freedom.”
The debate in Oxford began three years ago, when the Oxfordshire County Council, the highway authority and Oxford City Council announced plans to solve the issue of congestion in the city by moving people from away from cars towards sustainable transport.
Last December, it was revealed that staff and councillors from Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council had received abuse “…due to inaccurate information, being circulated online, about traffic filters.”
“The misinformation online has linked the traffic filters to the 15-minute neighbourhoods proposal in the city council’s Local Plan 2040, suggesting that the traffic filters will be used to confine people to their local area,” a statement issued from both councils read. “This is not true.”
The protests on the weekend incited some pretty strong opinions, including one organiser who told a student newspaper, “…we’re here because we’re incredibly worried about the attack on our rights, the freedom of movement, and everything that comes from freedom of movement.”
“Most people you speak to here are going to be all for a return to local economies. But this isn’t going to achieve that, it’s going to restrict people’s rights.”
Another protester representing Stand in the Park U.K (the global anti-lockdown group started in Sydney by Brady Gunn) said, “We’re obviously in opposition to this rollout of 15-minute cities and the implications of what that means when you are effectively locking people into zones in their own hometowns.”
“It’s made to sound like this wonderful idea because it would be fantastic if we have all these nice little community hubs with amenities within close reach, but the actual reality of what this means is that you are being tracked and traced within your own town. You’re looking at having to have permits to leave the zone that you find yourself in.”
In the past few years, conspiracy theories have been on the rise as pandemic-related lockdowns and social ruptures lead many to make conclusions about government encroachment and civil liberties.
False narratives continue to plague the internet, with some extremists even comparing 15-minute cities to “concentration camps” and “capitalist hell”.
Recently, the cabinet member for environment, culture and tourism, Councillor Carole Mulroney, said in a statement, “We always need to learn from what others are doing.”
“The concept of a local area with access to facilities within 15 minutes is something I am sure a lot of people would welcome,” the Liberal Democrat said. “Our local plans seeks to protect and improve services in each of those places for the benefit of residents. However, the idea of charging for travelling outside a zone is not acceptable in my view and Oxford are currently reaping the backlash on that.