Urban transformation as a tool for climate change — what about Prague?

Currently one of the most significant worldwide problems is no doubt global warming. This problem is connected with excessive production of greenhouse gases. The dominant producers of these pollutants are according to (Satterthwaite, 2008) cities as built-up areas. The result of the above is the fact that the transformation of cities through the field of spatial planning can significantly contribute not only to the solution of this global problem, but also to the Paris Agreement, which was written for this purpose. The signatories of this agreement commit to taking action to ensure that the increase in global warming does not exceed 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels.

The fulfillment of these obligations is mainly served by detailed strategic, and conceptual documents for individual countries, and their cities, the content of which is usually visions, goals, and measures. In this case, the ideas, and requirements of the 15 minutes city model are very often presented, and specified, and this model is also part of the path to fulfilling global obligations. A concrete example of an organization that applies the 15-minute city model is the C40 organization, through which mayors of member cities undertake to fulfill the described obligations. This organization strives to achieve carbon neutrality through sub-topics, and their declarations. These subtopics are addressed precisely through the 15-minute city model. The model of the 15-minute city was defined by (Moreno, 2016), and this model responds not only to the increased production of emissions, but also to the expected increase in the number of the city’s inhabitants by 1 billion within about ten years, and to the necessity of changing the rhythm of the city from a monocentric arrangement to a polycentric one. This arrangement represents a dilution, and increase in the importance of service centers across the city instead of concentrating civic amenities in a specific area. The basic idea of ​​this model is to ensure six basic human needs in a given city. These needs are living, working, supplying, caring, learning, and enjoying, which should be accessible to city dwellers within a 15-minute walk or bike ride.

However, the 15-minute city is not the only model of urban transformation that is based on addressing the physical, and temporal availability of basic human needs. An example is the short-distance city model, whose roots go back to the second half of the 20th century. The flagship of this model is the city of Vienna, and this city is considered as an inspiration for Prague. At present, Prague, specifically the representatives of the territorial development of this capital city, adheres to the above-mentioned concept of the 15-minute city as a model that is up-to-date. However, Prague’s conceptual, and strategic documents still use, and further develop the model of the city of short distances instead of the 15-minute city. On the occasion of the visit of Professor Carlos Moreno in 2022, and many other events, it became clear that the representatives of Prague, the then mayor Zděněk Hřib, and the deputy for territorial development of Prague Petr Hlaváček, consider the fifteen-minute city as a model, and the short-distance city model as synonyms.

Can the short-distance urban model be understood as a synonym for the fifteen-minute urban model? If not, what do the 15-minute city model, and the short distance city model have in common, and how are they different?

It is the determination of the essential intersection of specific, and measurable elements that will be the outcome of the answer to one of the research questions of my dissertation, which, among other things, will help to answer the question that is posed immediately in the title of this article.

Resources:

Moreno, C., 2016. La ville du quart d’heure : pour un nouveau chrono urbanisme (EN, FR, ES). Carlos Moreno. URL https://www.moreno-web.net/la-ville-du-quart-dheure-pour-un-nouveau-chrono-urbanisme/ (accessed 1.2.24).

Satterthwaite, D., 2008. Cities’ contribution to global warming: Notes on the allocation of greenhouse gas emissions. Environment and Urbanization 20, 539–550. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956247808096127