- cross-posted to:
- unitedkingdom@feddit.uk
- cross-posted to:
- unitedkingdom@feddit.uk
The government has endorsed a conspiracy about “15-minute cities” as part of its major policy announcement prioritising car owners – despite having already debunked the theory.
Speaking to the Conservative party conference in Manchester today, transport secretary Mark Harper called himself “proudly pro-car,” while describing the concept of 15-minute cities – where local amenities are located within a 15-minute walk or cycle – as “sinister”.
“What is sinister, and what we shouldn’t tolerate,” said Harper, “is the idea that local councils can decide how often you go to the shops, and that they can ration who uses the roads and when, and that they police it all with CCTV.”
There has been opposition to 15-minute cities from those who say they are a front for “everlasting surveillance” and designed to restrict people’s freedom.
But these theories have been widely debunked, including by the government itself.
But that surveillance exists regardless of whether it’s a 15 minute city or not, because whether you walk or drive to use an amenity, the same houses and businesses will have cameras in them. The only difference is, potentially, your neighbour’s Ring camera sees you walking rather than driving. Or you get filmed walking into your local Co-op rather than into the Tesco superstore on the other side of town. I’m really not seeing how a 15 minute city leads to more surveillance of people going about their everyday lives.
yeah. that is actually my point. they are taking something that is happening anyway and pretty much dressing it up to be a result of 15 minute cities and it really has nothing at all to do with them. hey you know. I think they are actually using a strawman which is funny because I see that and gaslighting thrown at me when, well, I don’t really think its what im doing. but in this particular case I think the original post article is about a strawman kind of thing.