Shrink the City: The 15-Minute Urban Experiment and the Cities of the Future

by Natalie Whittle

A revolutionary solution for taking back our time and making our communities more sustainable, briefly explained through the places that have tested its principles


Cities define the lives of all those who call them where they go, how they get there, and how they spend their time. But what if we built our cities differently? What if we traveled differently? What if we could get a cashback on time and use it to live in a new way?


In this fascinating, meticulously researched and reported, and readily accessible book, longtime Financial Times journalist Natalie Whittle looks at metropolises all over the world to consider the idea of the 15-minute city, defined as a city that is designed so that everyone who lives there can reach everything they need within 15 minutes on foot or by bike. Whittle helps us to understand its pros, its cons, and its potential to revolutionize modern living. With global warming reaching a crisis point and the post-pandemic world bringing a previously unimaginable decline in commuting, Whittle’s timely book serves as a call to reflect on the “hows” and “whys” of our basic relationship to our neighborhoods, cars (“Above all, the 15-minute city asks us to turn away from the perceived con­venience of the fossil fuel car”), all of our daily comings and goings.


Building her study by carefully considering how we use space and time, Whittle traverses both, collecting models from ancient Athens to modern Paris and New York that demonstrate how one idea could change our daily lives—and the world—for good.

Genres: Nonfiction, Urban Planning, Environment, Urban

179 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 10, 2024

Reviews

[Logan Crossley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Less of a treatise or a diagnostic and more of a lightly connected survey of different problems and possibilities presented by contemporary debates over so-called “15-Minute Cities.”

That organizing principle sometimes cramps the writing; there are sentences here that sound like they were outdated the moment they were written. The author’s journalism habits also limit the text in a couple of ways: (1) there is a strong reliance on quotes that provide widely varying degrees of usefulness/insight but have the air of authority conferred by academia (any University in the byline will do) or government (any official body in the byline will do) and (2) there is a tendency to present both sides of the conflict over any issue, which is helpful in a sense but also leaves the strange (maybe correct?) impression that the author is 50% committed to 15-Minute Cities, 30% against them, and 20% undecided (when I would have preferred either a totally neutral approach or a more consistent argumentative presentation).

Also, I’m a liberal on both topics, but those who tire of somewhat unexamined, group-think-coded baseline assumptions about climate change and COVID-19 will quickly be exhausted by the ways in which Whittle allows those two subjects to be the lenses through which she sees most issues of urban life. Overall, there is a major latent tendency by Whittle (and so many chattering class, “comfort class” thinkers) to almost exclusively lean on top-down solutions (Chuck Marohn persuasively discusses the limits of this approach in Strong Towns) to problems that really require a greater emphasis on bottom-up paradigms and “complexity” (meaning, complex-systems-thinking, i.e., layers of inputs and outputs in a large web of interacting agents, where sweeping changes by official planners often fail to solve big problems so much as they exacerbate existing differences and provide a “solution looking for a (simple) problem”).

The best part of the whole book is the last chapter, which philosophically discusses our shared understanding of time in a way I found provocative—but confusingly, the chapter (and thus the book) ends on an unresolved note that makes no claim in support of why a “15 Minute” standard should have any primacy other than that it feels like a nice rule of thumb.

As for the substance of the debate itself, it seems outrageous and silly that we’ve allowed the moniker “15-Minute City” to go on the trajectory of our Culture Wars shouting matches and become freighted with spooky pseudo-meaning by the worst actors of the online Right. In my mind, there is an incredibly straightforward soundbite to shut down that nonsense quickly and move on to common sense urbanism conversations: “The 15-Minute City concept imagines a world where you can attend to a very large majority of your needs within a 15-minute zone of multimodal transport access, not a world where you have to. It does not take away your choices, it just makes your life better. Another way of saying it is: bringing stuff to you instead of you to stuff.”

[JD · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free ARC from NetGalley, and this review is voluntary

The literature discusses the theory of the 15-minute city, or an urban landscape developed to be tighter, and more connected. More pathways for walking, and cycling as a means of transpiration. Introducing greener buildings, or a more equitable environmental. Pushing for interconnectivity to allow for overall accessibility.

Some takeaways:

In the pre-face, there is mention of redlining in Zoning, which is a discriminatory practice in housing policy; however, it's not touched upon enough in the rest of the literature, vis-a-vis the impact of the policy itself on homeownership for African-Americans, at least as it relates to the history of real estate in the United States. What it means to be born in the wrong Zipcode.

I found the first chapter to be chalk full of information, but with the way it's presented it does ramble a bit. Swinging back and forth between past and present, to provide examples to highlight the idea currently being discussed, per the view of the 15-minute city.

The rest of the chapters are written from the perspective of what has worked in other areas. Provided to the reader as less of a comparative analysis, but how it could work, because of what's already worked elsewhere. Overall, it's not a bad read. The concept of the 15-minute city is an interesting one for urban planning. When it comes to how things are for us on the American side, I'm not sure how the theory would manifest if there was enough space for it. What I do think, though, is that pieces of the theory can be introduced within our existing framework. A slow, or gradual change from within. It won't be perfect, but until we start to tackle the root problems, and generate remedy for those problems, the status quo will remain.

A couple of things I think should have been mentioned or explored further:

The re-usage of existing buildings. A good chunk of the literature discussed work-from-home policy, or mentioned the pandemic, which inevitably led some businesses to shutter their doors, or change company policy so folks can work from home, which potentially leaves a building empty. There are complications both on the alteration and renovation side, as well as building codes, but for what can be re-used or re-purposed to meet the end goal of the 15-minute city should be included.

And lastly, unless I missed it, I don't believe accessibility for those with disabilities was mentioned, which ironically - accessibility, is the heart of the 15-minute city policy. Can't tell you how many older buildings I've walked into without an access ramp for those with wheelchairs, or a bathroom that doesn't provide handrails, or a turning radius in the bathroom for a wheel chair user. In order to have an ideal city that works for all, it must include all. That should be discussed a bit more as part of the actual thesis statement. Accessibility through inclusivity.

Otherwise, this was well-written and researched. Should probably take a second look to see if it could be organized a little better, but it was very informative.

[Michael Erickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gonna be honest, wasn't expecting a book extolling the virtues of the ~15-minute city~ to unintentionally make me wary of the concept. So much time was spent dispelling counterarguments against it that I learned about problems I'd never even considered and didn't know I'd have issue with until I heard about them here.

I've been a lifelong suburbanite (and arguably lived semi-rural for a decade), so no city has ever been a home for me; they've always been someplace I visit for a day or two before leaving. I do have friends that live in big cities though, and I find that they're always uniquely opinionated about the topic. They take pride in city-life things that I pity them for, and they pity me for things I take pride in for living in the suburbs. It all comes out in the wash at the end, but just know that that's where I'm coming from.

I did appreciate how this being a post-COVID nonfiction book it was able to take into account how, yeah, living in a tight radius is cool until all of a sudden you can't escape because of, say, a pandemic lockdown. And this wasn't a solely Western or eurocentric discussion, planned cities like Brasilia and The Line currently being built in Saudi Arabia were brought up. There is a clear favoritism towards Dutch and Scandinavian-style cities though with their bicycle-first approach to infrastructure. I did find it curious that the author posits bicycle riding as something we all wish we could do if the world around us would allow it when that is far from a universal desire in my experience; growing up, whenever I saw someone riding a bike on the road with cars the adults in my life would point them out and say, "That guy lost his license, you don't wanna end up like him."

As for concerns I didn't know I had going into this, apparently people who live closer to grocery stores visit them more frequently and over time end up consuming more calories than less regular shoppers. There were also some valid points of smaller communities becoming more socially isolated and unwelcoming of outsiders, to say nothing of socieoeconomic stratification. Highly-monitored urban zones in the name of "efficiency and safety" also raise privacy concerns that have me agreeing with libertarians, which makes me feel weird. I didn't always find the author's refutations against these points wholly convincing, so I leave this book feeling more conflicted than I did going into it.

I do think that car-less subsections of major cities are inevitable, but maybe another decade or two off, and only in places that are already sufficiently wealthy and have a local culture that wants it. It might be a "build it and they will come" kind of situation, but I don't think shrinking an urban environment, no matter how well intentioned, should be something done against a populace who didn't ask for it.

[Madison · Rating 2 out of 5]

In addition to the fact that none of the ideas in this book were particularly new to me (though that is likely because I've taken grad-level urban planning courses), the book seemed like a stream of consciousness at times. The chapters didn't really make sense, and it just felt like the author was bopping around to different case studies that were only loosely related. There were moments where I got excited about a train of thought (i.e. why the 15-minute city has been met with such criticism, COVID's impact on our sense of time and how that intersects with our sense and design of cities), and these ideas would have been a more compelling read, imo. But the author would quickly pivot back to more loosely related examples of cities with 15-minute city elements. It makes sense that this book's idea came from a shorter article, and it was disappointing that the book meandered so much when the premise and some of the concepts brought up are compelling.

[nat · Rating 2 out of 5]

would love to see acknowledgement and consideration for disabled existental by anyone talking about things like bikes and cars even once, or things like curb cuts and how the disabled "15 minute city" is much smaller than that of someone who isn't. I'm so tired of coming across stairs with a slot for a bike but nothing for my walker. I'm tired of how little these narratives take my existence into account. because they are important things to talk about! the poorest people should not have to live in food deserts, and the poorest people are usually disabled in some way. there's so much talk about ebikes but not how a society that is bicycle-centric does not allow me to use a mobility aid or access public life.

also there was some pretty hideous fatphobia in here. pulling the "obesity epidemic" mythos in order to try and convince you bikes will stop you from being fat, the worst thing in the world to be 🙄

[Caleb Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read that contextualizes neighborhoods and cities that we have created, and how they affect our society and day to day lifestyles. My biggest takeaway is the idea of the 15 minute city, which will move from idealized concept to contingency for survival as our global climate shifts moving forward.

[Athul Domichen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting insights but a bit all over the cities.

[Wyatt Gowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would probably be a good introduction to some
city planning concepts. Her need to provide counterarguments to human centered city design annoyed me. I did quite enjoy the discussion around historical thinkings of time. Didn’t take away any real new insights but a decent read nonetheless.

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

drinking my kool-aid

written by journalist not academic so more digestible but audience feels very niche and didn’t get to the controversy stuff until too late

reads like long op-ed

[Michelle Bizzell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 15 minute city has become a buzz word recently. But it isn't without its critics, controversies, and outright conspiracies. The introductory chapters of this are a briskly written promise to explore what a 15 minute city really looks like, where it came from, what all the hype is about, and why it makes people so mad. I was fully bought in. Unfortunately, the rest of the book didn't deliver on that promise and wandered down side streets of loosely related topics before ending abruptly with a random discussion of time in ancient Athens. A great idea without the editing and research to pull it off 100%

[Hulttio · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 15-minute city is not a new concept, but it has been gaining cultural currency in recent years. I’ve had the fortunate bias of growing up in one of the few North American cities that is (at times) walkable and has a variety of transportation options. So, when I came across the term, it sounded exciting; surely, everyone would like to have more convenience in accessing their daily needs! As Whittle highlights, this desire had a watershed moment during the Covid-19 pandemic. For the first time, we turned our gaze onto our local communities and neighborhoods. Given all this, you could imagine my surprise when I also learned that some people bristled to the concept and reacted almost violently, decrying it as totalitarian. Nothing quite like it to demonstrate how polarized we are, I suppose. Never mind that 15-minute cities consistently rank higher on human wellness metrics or convenience.

With that introduction, I fully admit that I am a biased reader for this book, and indeed, Whittle was certainly preaching to the choir for most of it. At one point, she does briefly address the criticisms raised by the opposing side, but I did feel a bit disappointed as I don’t think she really gets into the source of these concerns. It is a short book, but when most of it is merely explaining the 15-minute city or providing specific case studies, it would be helpful to have a more informed view on what these ‘arguments’ really are. (I do think the criticism comes from a place of fear, that age-old conservative tendency that rejects openness and fears anything novel—even though the 15-minute city is really bringing humanity back to our roots.)

I did enjoy the various examples that Whittle discusses in the book, among them the city of Paris and its plans to develop a more carbon-neutral, walkable city. As per the study above, I was surprised to learn that Paris isn’t even the most walkable city in Europe—it’s Milan. To no one’s surprise, North American cities don’t even come up in the top 50… you have to wait until Vancouver at #53. Walking is good for you and cycling is especially good for you—both are great for the planet. Governments and societies should push people towards these and make them not only convenient but even preferable.

For all her research, I did feel that the book lacked an overall cohesion as well as chapter cohesion. The chapters all relate to aspects of the 15-minute city, but you might find yourself several pages into a chapter and uncertain of where exactly Whittle is taking you. One chapter focuses on time itself and thus gives a nice historical overview of timekeeping devices, which I found incredibly fascinating—but it may not catch everyone’s attention if their focus is strictly on urban planning. She also had one incredibly large chapter in the middle that seemed like it would focus on cycling, which piqued my interest, but then the discussion devolved into other topics. The pacing of the chapters was thus imbalanced.

At times, she worded sentences weirdly in such a way that I had to re-read them several times, and even then, I wasn’t sure I fully understood. For example, you might find an overly vague statement such as: ‘That we have limited time can be worrying and unnerving. For an idealized proposal of city life to build in brevity as a virtue could feel like an affront to this problem.’ Not only is this vague, but it hedges on the point of the criticisms against the 15-minute city concept, and I don’t think this does any favors to the reader. There was also this: ‘What is provisioned in a neighborhood might influence your quality of life, but it won’t influence every detail of your life course. Those are different things.’ Is it rude to point out that this is obvious?

Still, despite these flaws, Whittle’s book is a solid primer on the concept of the 15-minute city; if you are already familiar with it, this may not be the book for you, unless you are interested in reading about specific examples or tangential historical tidbits. If you just want a quick overview, this will do just fine. This book was also a great exercise in taking a look at different ways of conceptualizing urban planning and how we may want to organize our living spaces. What are the boundaries of the urban environment and how do we imagine ourselves in relation to them? Whittle rightly brings up food desserts and accessibility as important concerns that we must make room for in these types of discussions. I do think having a cautious but optimistic enthusiasm about 15-minute cities (and with a necessary dose of advocacy) is vital to reinvigorating our dying cities and Main Streets, particularly in North America. We do not have to complacently hand over our cities and lives to cars and robots.

Notable quotes:
※ ‘Commuters, he noted in our conversation, have an average journey of around one hour, or a two-hour round trip to work and back.’
※ ‘In America, cycling is an accessory to childhood freedoms in the suburbs or midlife Americans’ weekends recorded on Strava.’
※ ‘The Fietsersbond, the Dutch cycling union, also reaches for a more abstract virtue, a happiness bounce that comes from cycling.’

Disclaimer: I received this book through NetGalley and the publisher, The Experiment. Thank you for providing an advanced copy, and thank you to the author, Natalie Whittle. My review reflects only my honest opinions.

[Brandon Pytel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably more of a 3.5; it was just a bit repetitive and went off some seemingly unrelated tangents (I’m not sure we needed to dive deep on the origins of timekeeping). But at its core, the book is about the concept of a 15-minute city and “Establish a broad base of history, influences, and ways of thinking about urban design to frame this debate more clearly in the urgent context of the climate crisis.”

The book explores how we got to such a car-centric vision of infrastructure, and the "dependable friction with state control,” while identifying some ways that opponents to the 15-minute city have used misinformation, language, and overall distrust of government to push back on the idea (a concept described in the chapter "Zone 17”).

Its value is really in the case studies it provides, from Paris and its long-term experiment under Anne Hidalgo, to how Denmark and the Netherlands became such hallmarks of biking lifestyles. The latter is super interesting, in that both places were in the process of losing their streets to cars, and pushed back to create a “golden combination of train and bicycle.”

Whittle also explores the concepts of utopias and created communities that are designed rather than organically rise, and the complications that come with those concepts: “Cities need atmosphere and a sense of place to work. They can’t be created in the laboratory.” Neighborhoods must also be connected to other neighborhoods, otherwise they are siloes that fail to blend the diversity and ingenuity that make cities great.

As climate impacts increase, and as more residents migrate to urban centers, cities offer hope for the future, as a laboratory for experimentation and a dense area to increase public transit, bike lanes, and sidewalks, all to support a 15-minute city. This book is worth reading if you’re interested in those ideas.

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is intended to be an easy-to-read, journalistic introduction to the 15-minute city concept, but it wanders off in so many directions that it doesn't really do the job: for example, Whittle discusses electric cars, which may be relevant to climate change but isn't really relevant to a 15-minute city (because suburban sprawl with electric cars is still suburban sprawl).

In addition, I noticed one or two remarks that make me wonder how well researched this book is. After discussing the work of Jane Jacobs, she writes that "New York has benefited from its legacy of 'zoning' different districts from different uses." This statement is silly for three reasons. First, it implies that New York is unique; in fact almost every American city has similar zoning codes. Second, Jacobs was very critical of this kind of single-use zoning, arguing that businesses and housing should often be mixed. Third, single-use zoning is not really consistent with the 15-minute idea: when houses and shops are far from each other, it is impossible for most residents to reach the shops without driving.

[Eszter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a really interesting read and found its case studies of various cities and their efforts toward sustainability and reduction of carbon emissions valuable. While I don't know that I agree with the concept of the 15-minute city and resonated quite a bit with some of the counterarguments the author posed as to why the concept wouldn't (or shouldn't) work in practice, I learned a lot about current efforts around the world to redesign cities for a world in climate crisis.

Unfortunately, the takeaway here is a bit depressing (as it often is when we examine the progress that's being made toward addressing climate change) - the politicization and criticism of even the barest concept of a plan (hehe) to improve urban quality of life and forge a way forward in a world that's increasingly unlivable as "authoritarian" and "dystopian" may be a darkly funny footnote in history when, years in the future, many populations will be forcibly living amid water rations and "stay indoors" orders during elongated, scorching summers.

[Andreas · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was excited to read this book to learn more about 15 minute cities, how they could be built and what their benefits could be. This book is not about that. It reads like a collection of disparate articles on loosely related subjects that are strung together rather incoherently. There is very little research and the author frequently uses quotations from political actors in place of data. Each chapter is nominally about a relevant topic, but the author meanders around and at one point dedicating the majority of a chapter to how time was measured in ancient Athens. If you want to learn more about 15 minute cities, look elsewhere.

[Caleb Smoot · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Cities define the lives of all those who call them home: where we go, how we get there, how we spend our time. But what if we rethink the ways we plan, live in, and move around our cities? What if we didn’t need a car to reach the grocery store? What if we could get back the time we would have spent commuting and put it to other uses?”

I enjoyed the concepts and examples in the real world. And I’m still a fan of the well planned city. However, the hem and haw throughout made it difficult to grasp any larger takeaway’s

[Tracy Middlebrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars really. Interesting concept but this book's layout and format isn't perfect. Kind of like this should've been a long form journalism essay rather than a book. A bit rambling at parts. Some struggles to connect anecdotes. Still, led to some thoughtful discussions at bookclub and it presents some interesting points about this new idea towards urban planning, focusing on some positives and some worries.

[Jon Tillotson · Rating 2 out of 5]

All items that have been talked about for years, but re-packaged under this rubric of "15-Minute City". No new insights and a bit meandering.

Some of the anecdotes of efforts around the World to reclaim car-dominated space were enjoyable.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read, interesting and disturbing that people will attempt to view this as restrictive when it is liberating (liberating from cars, driving and parking)

[Abby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept and discussion on city planning but pretty surface level. Could have been summarized in a sentence

[Raye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great and knowledgeable while still being easy to digest!! Lots of awesome anecdotes and research referenced

[Aaron Moraine · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5.0.

Was fine. First dive into the study of urban planning and transportation. Informative, but just not a subject I’m too interested in. However, it was definitely inspiring to envision a better future for the city and quality of daily life, and I now desire to implement certain aspects of the 15-minute city into my life where I can.

[Lghamilton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wouldn’t it be nice! But I’d settle for elementary and middle schools, coffee, groceries, a pub, and a nail salon in my 15- minute orbit, with safe bike lanes to connect them. The author runs out of material eventually and moves on to adjacent topics.