Edmonton is one of the few cities in the world to adopt a 15-minute city model, with council recently approving the much-debated city plan.
The
15-minute concept has met with mixed reactions globally. Some have lauded it,
citing the latest urban development research. It has also had passionate
critics, including the UK’s past Conservative government. In Edmonton, praise
and protest mixed at public hearings and council meetings on the matter.
Freedom of
movement has been one key concern, as the idea of 15-minute cities has become
intermingled with limitations on personal vehicle use. Automobile autonomy “has
come to be seen as synonymous with personal liberty,” as Oxford University
criminology professor Ian Loader says in his paper “15-minute cities and the denial(s) of auto-freedom.”
Loader’s
town of Oxford has itself implemented the 15-minute city model, and its
initiatives to limit traffic flow—not directly part of the 15-minute plan—met
with pushback. For example, it set up traffic “filters” on some major roads
that require permits to pass. Some have called it “disinformation” to conflate
the two policies, thereby suggesting 15-minute cities limit free movement.
The Edmonton
city council responded to public comments on freedom of movement by adding an
amendment to assure citizens that their charter right to freedom of movement
will not be violated. The city’s plan does not contain any Oxford-like filters,
nor detailed plans for limiting vehicle use. Its section on “mobility” includes minimized roadway expansion
for vehicles and prioritizing convenient space for walking and biking.
Loader makes
the case that the concern around 15-minute cities may not lie in overt
limitations, but rather in lower speed limits or other measures that “restrict
people’s ability to drive where and when they see fit, or stipulate that a
journey by car now takes longer than might previously have been the
case.”
Sandeep
Agrawal, an urban planning expert and professor at the University of Alberta,
supports the concept of 15-minute cities.
Edmonton’s
15-minute city plans are “aspirational,” he told The Epoch Times. Much remains
to be seen as to how the plan materializes, and each step will require some
buy-in from Edmontonians and the private sector, he said.
“The 15
minute concept is aspirational in nature, and it’s obviously fairly new,”
Agrawal said. “Amenities and facilities need to be available within 15 minutes,
so obviously it’s going to take some time to realize.”
Part of the
city’s plan includes encouraging new building to be infill, to increase
building density in some areas.
“The city
can’t build those things,“ Agrawal said. ”It’s the people; it’s the people who
are going to put all of this together over time, taking advantage of what the
zoning allows … and the regulatory environment.”
Some of the
benefits 15-minute cities offer, according to proponents, are less vehicle
pollution and a sense of small community in the big city as people will stay in
their neighbourhoods more. But achieving that dream will meet with some bumps
in the road, Agrawal said.
For example,
having people’s workplaces located within a 15-minute radius would be
difficult. Edmontonians’ average commute is 24 kilometres, according to Statistics
Canada.
“Workplaces
are moving further and further away from residential areas,” Agrawal said. So
the city’s plan to have many people work within a 15-minute bike or transit
trip is “a much larger and, again, aspirational idea.”
Vehicle
Use Versus Transit, Biking
The city’s
goal to have 50 percent of trips made by transit, walking, or bike, has been
long discussed. The goal is not included in its recently passed policy, which is officially called a “district
policy” or Charter Bylaw 24000. But it was mentioned alongside the 15-minute
plans in the report presented to city council on Bylaw 24000 on Oct. 2,
the day the policy was passed by a vote of 9-4.
That report
says that the district policy provides more detailed guidance on land use,
mobility and growth management as outlined in The City Plan. The City Plan
contains “Big City Moves,” a name given to the city’s goals for “transformative
change.” One Big City Move is to make city life feel more connected and to
improve access to daily amenities.
“The two
targets associated with this Big City Move are having 50 per cent of trips made
by transit and active modes, and where Edmontonians can easily access their
daily needs within a 15-minute walk, roll or transit trip,” the report says.
City staff
presented a report in 2021 to the council’s urban planning committee on the
goal of having 50 percent of trips made by transit or active modes. The report
outlined possible methods of achieving this goal, which would involve
decreasing the percentage of vehicle trips from 78 percent to 50 percent.
“Double the
costs associated with operating a car (e.g., road pricing such as tolls and
congestion charges, fuel taxes, vehicle registration costs or mileage based
charges)” was one point. “Quadruple the cost of parking” was another.
Creating
car-free corridors, reducing transit fares, and repurposing traffic lanes for
dedicated transit lanes were among the others.
The city
told The Epoch Times via email that the 2021 report was taken only as
information and no recommendations or course action was adopted. The city did
not provide further details about how reaching the 50 percent goal may be
achieved.
It
emphasized that the district policy in no way aims to limit mobility.
“The City of
Edmonton has no plans to put anything in place to do so. In fact, District
Planning will enable more transportation options by supporting improved access
and movement within and between districts and throughout the city,” it said.
“Together,
the District Policy and plans help guide where development is encouraged and
show where infrastructure and service improvements, such as roadways, parks and
transit, are needed to support that development. This will help us build a city
that feels less anonymous, more personal and ready to welcome new residents,”
it added.
The district
policy’s section on mobility includes some broad goals for making 15-minute
transit, biking, and walking trips more convenient. But it does not include
detailed, specific proposals like those presented to council in 2021. The Epoch
Times asked the city if any further details could be given at present, but it
did not respond directly to that question.
The mobility
section of the policy proposes creating more buffers between vehicles and
pedestrians or bikers on the street. It says the “active transportation
network” should “maximize user comfort.” It mentions parking pricing as a
potential way to free up street space currently used for parking.
It speaks of
improving transit network performance and designing streets “welcoming to all
users in all seasons.”
Edmonton’s
snowy season may make it difficult to encourage biking, walking, and transit,
however.
“It’s not a
cup of tea for everyone. Especially when the winter sets in and there’s snow on
the ground, it’s not easy for elderly people or children,” Agrawal said. “So
again, conceptually, 15 minutes sounds very good, and moving 50 percent to
other modes of transportation, but how it pans out in Edmonton remains to be
seen.”
Oxford’s
Loader speaks of the comforts of personal vehicles and why many are unwilling
to give them up.
“It offers valuable ‘me time’ to be
enjoyed in silence or with music, conversation and companions of one’s choice.
It permits travel without the presence and discomfort of strangers. Cars are,
in short, a kind of a mobile living room,“ he said. ”These are the felt
freedoms and comforts that people seem reluctant to give up or compromise, and
which are seemingly threatened by the 15-minute city.”
In Edmonton,
almost 93 percent of drivers drive alone, more than any of Canada’s other 15
largest cities, according to a Statistics Canada report published in August.
The link
between 15-minute cities and some limitations on traffic can be seen in
Paris.
“Its mayor
Anne Hidalgo has been championing the ‘ville du quart d’heure’ since early
2020, and has embedded it into a broader plan to promote active mobility in
lieu of cars,” says Richard Florida, a professor at the University of Toronto’s
Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, in an article published by the World Economic Forum.
“Car speed
has been limited to 30 kilometers per hours [sic] on many streets; automobiles
have been banned along the Seine one Sunday each month; and plans to include a
biking lane on every street by 2024 are also in the works,” he said.
Free-Movement
Fears
Some
Edmontonians who protested the 15-minute city plan said this model would make
lockdowns easier.
“It’s easier
to control us when we’re split up into these little districts, kind of similar
to the COVID lockdowns,” Alexa Posa, founder of citizens’ group YEG United,
told The Epoch Times at a Feb. 10 protest. YEG United organized the
protest.
“It’s really
hard for me right now to believe what the City of Edmonton is going to tell us
and what our politicians are telling us,” Posa said.
Councillor
Aaron Paquette commented on this fear at a June 25
public hearing.
“We’re
coming out of a very tumultuous time, through COVID, through the actions that
people experienced then, through changes in how municipalities are building.
And when you pair those things together, sometimes what happens is a narrative
comes out that there is a desire by local governments to restrict movement or
to be part of some larger organization,” Paquette said.
“But the
fact is, we’re just here trying to do good work for the city, to try to find
ways to reduce taxes, to operate in a more efficient way.”
Freedom of
movement concerns have been raised nationwide. During the pandemic, Ontario
briefly implemented a policy that allowed police officers to arbitrarily stop
vehicles to ask the purpose of the trip, and administer a fine if the trip was
deemed unnecessary. That was repealed after public pushback.
Îles-de-la-Madeleine,
Que., implemented a policy earlier this year to have visitors
scan a QR code when entering or leaving the island municipality. The purpose is
to collect fees from tourists, with the proceeds being invested in the
community. Many social media posts described this as a restriction on free
movement, and some connected it to the idea of 15-minute cities.
Residents
are not charged, but must show identification to come and go. The measure is
unrelated to the 15-minute city concept.
Edmonton’s
Adoption May Be Relatively Slow
Some other
cities where the 15-minute concept has been adopted, such as Paris, are more
conducive to the model, Agrawal said.
“Paris is a
historic city and very different from a Prairie city like Edmonton. There were
some ingredients already in place for them to then, let’s say, expedite and
work on the idea of 15 minutes, and perhaps they got to realize it sooner. But
for a place like Edmonton, it will take some time,” he said.
In Edmonton,
a lot of green fields—sites never before developed—have been available and
cheaper to develop, Agrawal said. Shifting toward more high-density and mixed
use will take time, he said.
The debate
over 15-minute cities has included varying perspectives on how expensive
high-density building is compared to low density, and whether housing costs
could rise.
“I think
it’s a supply and demand situation. If people demand to be in a high density
area, then developers will respond,” he said, noting that may eventually drive
down costs. “But if you compare at the moment, developing a green field versus
going into a matured area and doing an infill, there is certainly a cost
difference there.”
Much will
depend on the market, but the city can zone and create incentives because it
has control over bike lanes and public infrastructure, Agrawal said.
“They can
certainly put in bike lanes, but bike lanes from where to where, right? I mean,
there has to be enough people, enough density, enough use in that area,” he
said, adding that the city may take a “we will build it and they will come”
approach.
The
Canadian Press contributed to this report.
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