The 15-minute climate solution that's spreading from Paris to ... - NPR
The 15-minute climate solution that's spreading from Paris to Cleveland : Up First : NPR
The Sunday Story: A 15-minute climate solution attracts conspiracies
Carlos Moreno, the Franco-Colombian urbanist, has been helping spread the idea of 15-minute cities — where people can access key things in their life within a short walk, bike ride or transit ride of their home. But the climate solution is seeing huge challenges, including conspiracy theories. Julia Simon hide caption
15-minute cities are an urban planning idea growing in popularity. The idea is that you can get to the key places in your life — think work, education, food, recreation — in a 15-minute walk, bike or transit ride. Now mayors from Paris to Cleveland are looking to use them to reduce planet-heating car pollution and improve quality of life.
But they face obstacles — from NIMBYs, to public schools, to death threats for urban planners and politicians. Reporter Julia Simon talks about her months-long reporting on a climate solution that has become a lightning rod for conspiracy theories. This reporting is a part of NPR's climate week.
Michael Brilliot, deputy director for citywide planning for San Jose, Calif., is building urban villages — with a mix of apartments and amenities nearby. He says it's the city's version of 15-minute cities. Most of San Jose is dominated by single-family neighborhoods that aren't so dense. Julia Simon/NPR hide caption
Michael Brilliot, deputy director for citywide planning for San Jose, Calif., is building urban villages — with a mix of apartments and amenities nearby. He says it's the city's version of 15-minute cities. Most of San Jose is dominated by single-family neighborhoods that aren't so dense. Julia Simon/NPR
This episode was produced by Andrew Mambo and edited by Jenny Schmidt and Neela Banerjee. Our engineer was Maggie Luthar.
We'd love to hear from you. Send us an email at TheSundayStory@npr.org.
Listen to Up First on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.