The technological progress is praised for the countless opportunities it provided for communication, mobility, trade, and social class affiliation. Technology and machines altered the dynamics of urban design in cities, allowing for linear and perpendicular city grids of urban stretch with a significant disregard for the human scale. The widespread availability of technology and use of modern transportation means has resulted in ongoing negative impacts on both biodiversity and quality of life, linked to unfavorable outcomes such as increased traffic congestion, which, in addition to psychological and social tolls, translate to time and economic loss. These consequences are also associated with poor air quality as a result of increasing emissions and the energy required to keep industrial machines functioning and retain automobiles on the road. The increased availability of technology and vehicles has resulted in increased financial burdens on many households as a result of increased device use, communication costs, wasted time in traffic, increased demand for gasoline, and rising vehicle maintenance costs.
In terms of biodiversity, machines, and cars have worsened urban extension, negatively impacting green reserves, forests, and arable lands as more people choose to live in those areas to escape chaotic urban environments. While cities experience lockdowns to preserve decent levels of health, the issues connected to the development of the pandemic have led to the necessity for a radical re-think of the city, leading to the re-emergence of a concept, first offered in 2016 by Carlos Moreno: the “15-Minute City”. It is based on the notion of “chrono-urbanism,” which states that the quality of urban life is inversely related to the amount of time spent on transportation, particularly driving. This notion started with Moreno, who argues for an urban environment in which residents can get all of their necessities in less than 15 minutes by foot or bicycle. Interestingly, the notion appears to stem from his doctrine voiced in his version of a “living city,” which outlines how it is important to fix urban and social destruction, mostly fueled by modernist techniques that do not put the human at the center of needs.
Moreno was appointed the Knight of the Legion of Honor by the French Republic in April 2010 at a Maison de la Recherche ceremony. Jean Jacques Gagnepain, then-president of the Academy of Technologies, awarded him the honor. In 2019, Moreno was awarded the Academy of Architecture’s Prospective Medal 2019. In 2021, he was given the Henrik FrodeObel Foundation’s (Denmark) OBEL AWARD in Paris and Leadership Award, Smart City Expo World Congress. Professor Moreno was also awarded the European Congress of Local Governments Award, the FIABCI Global Pioneers Award for Building Better Lives, and the Spanish International Award for Innovation in Sustainable Mobility in 2021. The World Resources Institute, WRI, located in Washington, D.C., has chosen the 15-Minute city as one of five candidates for the Ross Center 2022 Award for Cities. The greatest ecological, economic, and cultural event in the world, Floriade, which took place in the Netherlands under the subject “Growing Green Cities,” had Carlos Moreno as an ambassador of the French pavilion in March 2022.
In October 2022, the global network of climate cities, the C40, at the Mayors’ Summit in Buenos Aires highlighted the “15-minute city” as a strategic axis for green and thriving cities. Carlos Moreno was the guest of honor to open the session “The rise of the 15-Minute city”.
Moreno, the scientific director, and professor at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne is the third award-winner of the new international architecture prize, which recognizes recent and remarkable contributions to improving the physical, planned environment for the common good.
The 15-minute city concept by Moreno proposes that all people should be able to obtain their daily necessities within a 15-minute walk or bike ride. When Moreno suggested the 15-minute city model, many believed it was an ideal concept, mostly because they found it feasible that everyone should work near home. However, the Covid-19 epidemic has resulted in a significant shift in work style. Young people in particular have found the opportunity of employing digital technology to acquire greater freedom in their work-life balance and to replace commuting time from their house to their business. Moreno became a supporter of “smart cities” shortly after the internet revolution in 2000, which used computer science and mathematics to optimize city services and administration. However, as people become more conscious of climate change as the most serious threat to humanity, his view has developed as well to cater to the changing circumstances.
By promoting public engagement in initiatives that have a social impact, we may achieve fair, equitable, and long-term results. It is a vital decision-making process for any government, or person driving community-impacting projects. Carlos Moreno made his name by establishing such kind of ideas that supported the well-being of the world while utilizing his strategies to make cities beneficial for people.
