On a "15 minute cities" thread and I have the 15 minute cities page replying to me. So I am just providing some more reading material for citizens to review...
And here's a 'Cause Controvery' article about it too.
https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2023/01/25/15-minute-city-plans-cause-controversy/
"The process of delivering the Mission will start with an open call for expressions of interest, where cities will be invited to become
---> climate-neutral by 2030 <----
and express their interest in entering the Mission process. In this phase cities will be asked to perform a self assessment of their preparedness level and declare themselves to be at one of the three Beginner, Experienced or Frontrunner levels. The application should be submitted directly by the city/metropole authority or by a legal entity representing it in case they already started the implementation of climate strategy and established a legal entity for this purpose. The process will continue through three further phases of work for the city and its Mission partnership: After a successful eligibility check of the expression of interest, cities will be invited to prepare the application for a Climate City Contract. The process should be performed in co-creation with citizens, local authorities and relevant stakeholders." ,
"The implementation of the New Urban Agenda contributes to the implementation and localization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" ,""37. We commit ourselves to promoting safe, inclusive, accessible, green and quality public spaces, including streets, sidewalks and cycling lanes, squares, waterfront areas, gardens and parks, that are multifunctional areas for social interaction and inclusion, human health and well-being, economic exchange and cultural expression and dialogue among a wide diversity of people and cultures, and that are designed and managed to ensure human development and build peaceful, inclusive and participatory societies, as well as to promote living together, connectivity and social inclusion. ""
"66. We commit ourselves to adopting a smart-city approach that makes use of opportunities from digitalization, clean energy and technologies, as well as innovative transport technologies, thus providing options for inhabitants to make more environmentally friendly choices and boost sustainable economic growth and enabling cities to improve their service delivery.
"121. We will ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services by promoting energy efficiency and sustainable renewable energy and supporting subnational and local efforts to apply them in public buildings, infrastructure and facilities, as well as in taking advantage of the direct control, where applicable, by subnational and local governments of local infrastructure and codes, to foster uptake in end-use sectors, such as residential, commercial and industrial buildings, industry, transport, waste and sanitation. We also encourage the adoption of building performance codes and standards, renewable portfolio targets, energy-efficiency labelling, retrofitting of existing buildings and public procurement policies on energy, among other modalities as appropriate, to achieve energy-efficiency targets. We will also prioritize smart-grid, district energy systems and community energy plans to improve synergies between renewable energy and energy efficiency. "
"Priority 2: Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk.
National and Local Levels: To formulate public policies, where applicable, aimed at addressing the issues of prevention or relocation, where possible, of human settlements in disaster risk-prone zones, subject to national law and legal systems."
It all sounds wonderfully autocratic and dystopic. It certainly sounds nice.
----> They also reference,
The only mention of Canada in here is on Page 12, "The July 2018 meetings of Five Eyes representatives in Ottawa and Nova Scotia, Canada on the topic of 5G technologies and the potential threat posed by Huawei products could serve as a model for a broader discussion of Chinese smart cities technologies."
"The term “smart cities,” with its connotations of ultra-modern order and efficiency, has long existed as a conception of idealized urban planning.3 Along with antecedent ideas like intelligent cities, digital cities, and wired cities, smart cities framed the thinking of individuals who wanted to bolster the entrepreneurial, political, and cultural capital of cities, using technology as a means to connect and empower people. It also inspired individuals who believed that technology could provide unprecedented, efficient control of urban utilities and services.4 These early, abstract notions of smart cities fueled visions of metropolises transformed by technology and made markedly better in the eyes of political, economic, and cultural stakeholders.5 Technology advances have made it possible to begin making these nebulous conceptions of smart cities more concrete and have clarified shared understandings of what technologies and components should be considered part of smart cities. IBM has been particularly influential in this respect. The company introduced smart cities as a marketing initiative in 2008, arguing that the world’s increasing trend towards urbanization created imperatives for technology-driven solutions to improve the livability and manageability of urban spaces.6"
" Smart cities allow a city to implement rapid command and decision-making, real-time incident response, and coordinated operation of city services.”12
• The acquisition of data in a smart cities system refers to the use of technology to collect and monitor data inputs from a broad range of infrastructure components. It involves turning the workings of these components (e.g., traffic flow, water quality, or the movement of people around a city) into measurable data points. Relevant technologies for these tasks include sensors, radio frequency identification (RFID), satellite positioning, card readers, and video capturing devices.13
• The transmission of data in a smart cities system refers to elements within the various core systems of a smart city that exchange data, regardless of location, supporting constant machine-to-person and machine-to-machine communication. This component can also include data storage."
Smart cities, Brought to you by IBM.
"15 Minute City Plan Discussion says:
The 15 minute city plan in Oxford, UK has nothing to do with ****’s plan.
What’s happening in Oxford, is that it’s a city 1/10th the physical size of **** with a population of 150,000, and people are spending up to 3 hours a day commuting to and from work. In a city smaller than ****.
Their response to that traffic congestion has been to force all citizens to use the ring road around the city to access areas around the city that are outside of one of the 5 residential zones they created that people can drive around in unimpeded.
You can absolutely cut through residential neighborhoods if you want for convenience, but you’ll need to pay a toll. Citizens can apply for up to 200 free permits per year.
If you don’t want to pay the toll/fine, you can take the ring road where you want for free.
That seems like a pretty reasonable response to deal with traffic congestion to me?"
I am a skeptic that's all. I want to know the facts, and I do not trust these "climate-neutral" pushers.
