15-minute city - a new way of living in society
According to the digital media Europa Press, 40% of Spaniards live more than fifteen minutes away from essential services on foot or by bicycle, while more than 50% of the inhabitants of Madrid, Aragon, Catalonia and the Basque Country have all services less than fifteen minutes away on foot. The city of fifteen minutes is coming, a new way of living comfortably in the center of the big cities. Your trusted Valencia real estate agent tells you all about it.
Fifteen-minute city - This is how the new urbanity is being proposed
Among all the proposals of the new fifteen-minute city, the one that stands out as the star proposal is to eliminate dependence on cars and public transport, which have done nothing but contribute to the disturbing environmental pollution, in order to reach essential services in a maximum of fifteen minutes. In other words, you would be able to reach the hospital, school, high school and supermarket from your Valencia penthouse.
It is worth considering that public transport is also conceived as an essential service for the fifteen-minute city, as it is preferred over personal transport. So it is also intended to ensure access to it in less than fifteen minutes on foot.
Fundamentals of the fifteen-minute city
Today, 56% of the world's population lives in urban areas and, according to UN projections, by 2050 the planet will be inhabited by ten billion people, two-thirds of whom will live in cities. Both data, the present and the future, have given urban planners more than enough reasons to embark on a not inconsiderable challenge: to turn these cities into healthy, recreational and just spaces. And so the idea of a city in which everything essential would be just a few steps away from 100 % of the population living in it was born.
This idea was first brought to light by Carlos Moreno, an urban planner and professor at the Sorbonne University in Paris, in 2016, no less. Moreno took essentiality even a few steps beyond merely essential services, as he encompassed within the spectrum of such services gyms, restaurants, parks, cultural centers and stores in general.
Benjamin Büttner - a major player in the transformation who came to bring peace of mind
It is likely that by now you are wondering if the permanence of your Valencia penthouse is in danger before such a thorough proposal. Then we invite you to know the approach of another of the promoters of this great project: Benjamin Büttner. According to the mobility expert from the Technical University of Munich, although it is not the people who should move to the places that have essential services a few blocks away, but the other way around, under no circumstances can we consider tearing down the urban structures that are currently erected.
In contrast to this, and so that you can rest assured that your Valencia penthouse will be safe once the fifteen-minute city has been fully implemented, Büttner suggests that the solution lies in rethinking the spaces that are already in place. At the same time, the expert accompanies his proposal with an incentive and with measures focused on reducing the number of cars in the city, while at the same time increasing spaces for cyclists and pedestrians, and creating safe areas for children, the elderly and people with reduced capacities, as well as areas for social interaction.
Paris emerges as a model city to follow
The French capital has embraced Carlos Moreno's proposal of the fifteen-minute city, and today conceives the school as a capital in itself. Therefore, it has turned this institution into the center of the neighborhoods that make up its city. To this end, it has transformed its playgrounds into parks, so that they can be used for other activities once the school day comes to an end and also on weekends.
And now the owner of the Eiffel Tower is going for more: Why have so many parking spaces if the idea is to reduce the number of cars? Therefore, it has a project in hand that consists of transforming half of its 140,000 parking spaces into green areas and playgrounds for children.
2026 is the deadline that the authorities in charge have set for the transformation of Paris' streets into safe spaces for cycling and for greenery to merge almost equally with its traditional gray.
Benefits of the fifteen-minute city
This model of city, which is based on the glorious gardens and pedestrian neighborhoods of the glorious twenties... of the last century, of course, brings a number of benefits that, if you plan to put your Valencia penthouse for sale, you will be interested to know, since Valencia is already part of this avant-garde proposal.
Focus on people
It seeks to shift the priority that has so far been given to cars, to people. Many parents have expressed their gratitude for the fifteen-minute city model, since its implementation would allow their children to walk calmly to school without being escorted by the incipient number of vehicles circulating around them at deadly speeds.
Significant improvement in quality of life
How many times have you been held hostage in a traffic jam on your way from work to your Valencia penthouse? Now take yourself back to that moment and remember how you felt. Frustration, anxiety, stress, anger, helplessness... these are just some of the feelings that accompanied you on the journey. Now imagine a reality in which traffic jams simply do not exist. It seems utopian, but this is the proposal of the fifteen-minute cities.
Stress is a source of much more serious issues than fatigue and eventual moodiness. From thyroid diseases to cardiovascular conditions is what we can expect if this internal state in us becomes a regular guest. Therefore, this new urban proposal, besides beautifying our cities and making your Valencia attic see its value increase, is the green card towards a happier and, above all, healthier lifestyle.
A return to offline life?
Are you old enough to remember what life was like before the iPhone took over all our senses and took over our social lives? If so, and you would like to go back to that time, then the fifteen-minute city is for you. Among its proposals is to generate traffic-free spaces with recreational and cultural proposals, whose purpose is to encourage people to interact with those who are part of their community of neighbors.
Is this the beginning of an era in which social networks are just part of our lives and no longer the real black holes into which our children, and even we ourselves, enter on a daily basis to embark on a path of no return towards true nothingness?
From our luxury real estate Valencia we believe that this is definitely the case.
Valencia and the fifteen-minute city - How close are we to achieving it?
There are three cities whose population now has access to basic services in less than fifteen minutes on foot or by bicycle: Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. And this is an excellent argument to get the best price for the sale of apartments in Valencia, as it is one of the three best cities in important aspects such as convenience and sustainability.
Do you want to launch the sale of your Valencia penthouse on the right foot? Then contact us, because we have a proposal that will go straight to the heart of your potential buyers, we are waiting for you!