Transcribe your podcast
[00:00:04]

Hi, it's Frieda Pinto here, guest hosting today, if you want to learn how to take real lasting climate action like I do, I want to invite you to join Countdown, Ted's new global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. Now, here's a talk from the countdown global launch event given by urban planner Carlos Moreno. If you are an urban city dweller like me, I grew up in Mumbai, moved to London and then to Los Angeles about 11 years ago.

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And if you love your city but are concerned about the growing issues of sound and air pollution and the mounting stress of city life, then this talk is just for you. The 15 minute city concept is a genius idea and it deserves a lot more attention.

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Hey, y'all, it's Elise I'm excited about a new TED initiative called Ted in Arabic, built in partnership with Qatar Foundation. The goal of TED in Arabic is to spread the ideas of Arabic speakers to new and diverse audiences. Qatar Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on education, research and community development. They believe in the power of unlocking human potential through the sharing of ideas. And we at TED are excited for the ideas that will unlock together through this new platform.

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To learn more, visit Ted in Arabic Dot.com.

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For too long, those of us who live in cities big and small have accepted the unacceptable.

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We accept that in cities our sense of time is worth it because we have to waste so much of it, just adapting to the absolute organization and long distances of most of today's cities. Why is it we who have to adapt and to degrade our potential quality of life? Why is it not the city that responds to our needs? Why have we left cities to develop on the wrong path for so long? I would like to offer a concept of cities that goes in the opposite direction to modern urbanism and attempt at converting life into a human sized space rather than fracturing it into inhuman bigness and then forcing us to adapt.

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I call it the 15 minute city. And in a nutshell, the idea is that cities should be designed or redesigned so that within the distance of a 15 minute walk or bike ride, people should be able to leave.

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The essence of what constitutes the urban experience to access work, housing, food, health, education, culture and leisure. How would you ever stopped to ask yourself why that's a noisy and polluted street need to be a noisy and polluted street just because it is? Why can't it be it can be street lined with trees where people can actually meet and walk to the baker and kids can work at a school. Our acceptance of the dysfunctions and indignities of modern cities has reached a peak.

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We need to change that. We need to change it for the sake of justice, of our wellbeing and of the climate. Where do we need to create 15 minute cities? First, we need to start asking questions that we have forgotten, for instance, we need to look hard at how we use our square meters. What is that a space for? Who's using it in how we need to understand what resources we have in how they are used.

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Then we need to ask what services are available in the U.S.. Not only in the city center, in every vicinity, health providers, shops, artisans, markets, esport, cultural life, schools, parks, are the green areas in their water fountains place to cool off during the frequent heat waves. We also have to ask ourselves, how do we work? Why is the place I live here and work is far away?

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We need to rethink cities around the forward guiding principles that are the key building blocks of the 15 minute first ecology for the green and sustainable city. Second proximity to live with reduced distance to other activities show solidarity to create links between people.

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Finally, participation should actively involved citizens in the transformation of their neighborhood. Don't get me wrong, I'm not angling for cities to become rural hamlets. Your life is vibrant in creative cities are places of economic dynamism and innovation, but we need to make urban life more pleasant, a giant, healthy and flexible. To do so, we need to make sure everyone and I mean everyone, those living downtown and those living at the fringes has access to all key services within proximity.

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How do we get this done? The first city to adopt the 15 minute idea is Paris, France Mayor I dango has suggested a big bang of proximity, which includes, for instance, a massive decentralization, developing new services for each of the districts.

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And reduction of traffic by increasing bike lanes into a basis of new economic models to encourage local shops building more green spaces, transform existing infrastructure, for instance, fabrication labs in export centers, or turning schools into neighborhood centers in the evenings.

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That's actually a golden rule of the 15 minute city. Every square meter that's already built should be used for different things. The 15 minute meeting is an attempt to reconcile the city with the humans that live it, the 15 minutes it should have, the key features first, the rhythm of the city should follow Schuman's notecard. Second, each square meter should several many different purposes. Finally, neighborhoods should be designed so that we can live, work and thrive then without having to constantly commute.

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And so it's funny you think of it, the way many modern cities are designed is often determined by the imperative to save time. And yet so much time is lost to community sitting in traffic jams, driving to a mall in a bubble of illusory acceleration. The 15 minute Dahlia answers the question of saving time by turning it on its head by suggesting a different pace of life, a 15 minute Beth. Thank you. PR ex.