Oh....dear! Cter's at it again.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/03/03/consp...city-idea/
"Some conservative commentators and conspiracy theorists are increasingly convinced the concept of a "15-minute city" — an urban design principle recently embraced by cities ranging from Paris, France to Cleveland, Ohio — is the latest nefarious plot to curtail individual freedoms.
"You won't be able to use your own car on certain roads and highways without the government's permission and consent," claimed one Instagram user in a recent video that's been liked more than 5400 times.
"You will be constantly monitored by surveillance cameras to ensure that you don't leave your designated residential zone without first being authorised to do so."
But urban experts and city officials stress the idea has nothing to do with regulating people's movements or taking away other freedoms.
In some cases, they say, it's being wrongly conflated with local plans to mitigate traffic-clogged roads.
The claim
"15-minute cities" are designed to restrict people's movements, increase government surveillance and infringe on other individual rights.
The facts
The urban planning concept is simply about building more compact, walkable communities where people are less reliant on cars.
The conspiracy theories took off late last year in the United Kingdom, as the concept was conflated with an effort to impose new traffic restrictions to ease congestion in and around the famous university community of Oxford.
He pointed to a fact sheet the county and city governments issued jointly in December to set the record straight.
The fact sheet states that the filters aren't physical barriers that will confine people to their local area, but instead traffic cameras that will photograph the license plates of any non-compliant drivers, who could then be subject to a fine.
Drivers will still be able to travel to any part of the city at any time, but may have to take a different route.
Dan Luscher, creator of The 15-Minute City, a blog devoted to the design concept, argues it's "first and foremost" about choice, not coercion.
"It is about creating neighbourhoods and cities with urban amenities close at hand, and with convenient and safe options for getting around," he wrote in an email.
"It is about enabling people to get their needs met within their own neighbourhood, not confining them to that neighbourhood.
"It is about mobility, not lockdown."
