The 15-Minute City (FMC) is a city in which all the residents can reach daily necessities within a short walk or bike ride from their homes (within 15 minutes of distance). Initially, Professor Carlos Moreno introduced this concept in 2021. It is a kind of urban development plan in which residents of the city will be able to access living, work, commerce, health, education, and entertainment within the distance of fifteen minutes.

Cities are considered economic powerhouses as these   contribute 80% of the global GDP. In order to be economically productive a city must be efficient and livable, but cities in Pakistan face challenges in terms of efficiency and livability because of traffic congestion and bad air quality.

Why would we need to develop these cities? In Pakistan urban sprawl and unstructured urbanization is becoming the biggest problem for the development authorities and urban planners. Currently, Pakistan has some of the largest cities in the world.   Its twenty cities have populations of above a million but what is alarming is that forty percent of their population is living in slums. Moreover, its cities are spreading horizontally instead of vertically which is increasing the distance between living and work.  Everyone wants 5 and 10 Marla plot to build a Bungalow to increasing the distance 20 to 30 kilometres from the core of city, indirectly causing traffic congestion and making cities unlivable. The transport sector is using 302 thousand barrels of oil per day and this demand is increasing day by day.  To overcome these problems Pakistan needs and FMC urban development plan because it tackles these kinds of problems through the promotion of walking, cycling, and public transportation as these are not only the headaches of Pakistan.

These cities are designed in a way that every resident of the city will access the necessities of their lives within just a small distance which will resolve the problem of traffic congestion and that will decrease the demand of fuel. When people will drive less and use less fuel then the environment of the cities will remain livable. This will also save money and time because of the easy access to everything.

Though the idea of FMC is very novel and   a requirement of the times in which we live, it is also criticized at great length. In order to execute this plan, we have to transfer the existing structure of the cities, flats and apartments. Instead of plots, build new economic hubs, and public transport for each city. However, implementing this model would require significant investment and resources.

Additionally, there may be resistance from developers and residents who are used to the current urban planning model, but FMC is an investment for future   generations and that is why some countries like the United Kingdom and France are promoting this idea to make their environment livable for the future. This concept was first adopted and spread by France, not only this but also Paris en Commun which is a model of FMC. It is working on this model to make its country carbon   free, which is necessary to fight with climate change, the biggest challenge of   twenty first century.

In conclusion, I would say that FMC is a good idea which can be   adopted by Pakistan because the environment of our big cities is the worst in the world, the demand of fuel consumption is increasing, and   traffic congestion is constantly hovering over our heads so in order to deal with all issues policy makers should have to consider this model as it can be useful for Pakistan in the future and   a tool against climate change. In order to achieve this   goal , the government and people should have to   undertake this side by side,   the government should promote this idea by advertisement, issue   funding for this model and describe the advantages of this   to the   public. Simultaneously, the public should have to accept measures will be taken by government to execute this plan. Now is the time to take such   initiatives, otherwise Pakistan’s cities will soon be unlivable.

M. Ahmad is currently pursuing his studies at the National Defense University (NDU) in Islamabad, Pakistan. He has interest in  politics, culture, policy, and the environment.