Picture living in a bustling neighborhood where all your friends, basic needs, and even your job are reachable by a quick walk or bike or bus ride. (Something many people experience, possibly for the first and last time, on college campuses.) In such a city, parking areas may have been reclaimed as urban greenways, chance encounters with neighbors might be more common, and small local businesses would proliferate and thrive.
This vision is sometimes referred to as “the 15-minute city."
The backstory: This is a concept pioneered by Franco-Colombian scientist and mathematician Carlos Moreno. It means basically what it sounds like: Instead of expecting residents to get in their cars and drive long distances to work, run errands, and take part in social activities, cities should instead be designed to provide those kinds of opportunities in close proximity to where people live, reducing overdependence on cars and increasing local social cohesion.
By contrast: Picture living in a bustling neighborhood where all your friends, basic needs, and even your job are reachable by a quick walk or bike or bus ride. (Something many people experience, possibly for the first and last time, on college campuses.) In such a city, parking areas may have been reclaimed as urban greenways, chance encounters with neighbors might be more common, and small local businesses would proliferate and thrive.
This vision is sometimes referred to as “the 15-minute city,” a concept pioneered by Franco-Colombian scientist and mathematician Carlos Moreno. It means basically what it sounds like: Instead of expecting residents to get in their cars and drive long distances to work, run errands, and take part in social activities, cities should instead be designed to provide those kinds of opportunities in close proximity to where people live, reducing overdependence on cars and increasing local social cohesion.
“We have been able to observe the concrete effects of proximity, density, social mix, and ubiquity on both residents’ quality of life and the vitality of neighborhoods,” Moreno writes in a new book, The 15-Minute City: A Solution to Saving Our Time and Our Planet, which published yesterday. In the book, his first to be published in English, Moreno chronicles the history of how cities came to be fragmented through zoning policies and highway construction, the origins of his 15-minute city concept, and how the idea is becoming a reality all over the world.
Before and after pictures from Moreno’s book show the transformation of Piazza Dergano in Milan. In 2018, the city reconfigured the space for residents to walk, gather, and play, instead of simply park their cars.
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Courtesy Wiley
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But, he told me, this book is not a manual for the right way to design a 15-minute city. Every local context is different.
In the U.S., fragmentation is often a direct result of redlining policies that served to racially segregate cities and hoard resources away from lower-income neighborhoods of color. Some critics point out that if urban planners don’t take those histories into account, and let communities lead revitalization efforts, then a concept like the 15-minute city could further exacerbate inequities. However, if it’s done right, the approach could help address those harmful legacies.
“It’s an invitation to reinvent our lifestyles and urban practices to build a better future, where sustainability, equity, and well-being are at the heart of our concerns,” Moreno writes in the book. I spoke with Moreno over Zoom and e-mail about the growth of the 15-minute city concept, some sources of backlash, and whom he hopes to reach with his new book. His responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Q. Tell me a bit about how you first got interested in cities and urban design.
A. Very good question. I’m not an architect or urbanist. I am a mathematician and computer scientist. I have developed a lot of different technologies for the intelligent control of complex systems. Just after the emergence of the internet, in the 2000s, I had a lot of requests from mayors for transforming lampposts, lights, doors, windows into smart equipment. I became one of the European leaders of the smart city.
In 2010, I decided to drop off smart technologies to examine a different way — the design of services in cities. I decided to continue to work in cities, but not from the technological angle, because technology is not enough for fighting against climate change, poverty, and social exclusion. We need to develop more local services. We need to develop more local jobs and to have more friendly neighborhoods and greener neighborhoods as well. And to reduce the role of individual cars, to reclaim the public space, to develop local commerce, to develop cultural activities.
I proposed this term “the human smart city” in 2012. And in 2015, the city of Paris hosted COP21, the big conference of countries for signing the Paris Agreement.
Anne Hidalgo was the mayor of Paris at this moment and, along with Mike Bloomberg, decided to convene mayors in parallel to COP21. With this amazing summit of mayors in Paris, cities said, “We are at the center of the problem — and we have the solutions. We need to change not only with technical measures, we need to change our lifestyle.” The cities signed an agreement [to support ambitious climate goals at the municipal level]. A few months after this, in October 2016, for the first time I proposed to cities to change this lifestyle through an ambitious urban plan for developing more local services. And I called that the 15-minute city.
Q. How have you seen the idea of the 15-minute city catch on in the past several years?
A. When I proposed this concept in 2016, a lot of people said, “Professor Moreno, this is a good idea, but this is a utopia.” The norm is to have long distances, long commutes. And maybe it is uncomfortable, but people at the end of the month have a wage, and they have the possibility for having a normal life.
As a researcher, I have experienced this concept in three districts in the east of Paris. I have observed that it is possible to change a city. The mayor of Paris [Anne Hidalgo] embraced this concept in 2019 for her re-election campaign. At that moment, we didn’t have a city with this concept implemented. Hidalgo took this concept in 2020, and she announced in June 2021 the big picture for five years in Paris. She proposed a concrete plan with different measures: local shops, local commerce, [safe] streets for kids, to ban cars in front of the schools, to open the schoolyards during the weekend. We have generated new districts: Clichy-Batignolles, La Félicité.
This is the growth of the 15-minute city inside of Paris. But at the same time, during COVID, the C40 Cities embraced this concept. The C40 is the global network of cities for fighting climate change.
We have, today, 293 cities in progress of implementing this concept. But not necessarily under the same name. In Utrecht, Netherlands, it’s the 10-minute city. In Dubai, the 20-minute city. In China, it’s the 15-minute circles of life. We have a lot of different nicknames, but the idea is the same: to develop a happy, polycentric, multiservice proximity. This is my motto.
Piazza Minniti, another square in Milan that was reclaimed for bikes, pedestrians, and play.
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Courtesy Wiley
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Q. I was also interested in your chapter on small towns. I think there’s a perception that the 15-minute city is only possible in already dense areas. How can small towns or rural areas adopt similar principles — and what are some of the different considerations?
A. The 15-minute city concept for urban areas is also the 30-minute territory for smaller towns and rural areas. It is also successful, although less well-known. Last weekend, I was at a conference in the south of France with small rural towns with less than 5,000 inhabitants, to talk and act in this direction.
In less densely populated areas, distances are generally greater and services less concentrated. The focus could be on efficient alternative methods of transport such as electric bikes, shuttle services, or car-sharing solutions to make travel more convenient without relying solely on the car. Using multifunctional spaces that can serve different purposes depending on the time of day — for example, a space that serves as a market in the morning, a café in the afternoon, and a meeting place in the evening — can be effective. Small towns and rural areas can also benefit from increased use of technology to access services such as telemedicine, online education, and digital government services, reducing the need for physical travel.
Q. I feel like I have to ask — the concept of the 15-minute city was seized on last year by right-wing conspiracy theorists, who painted it as a guise for government control and surveillance. Why do you think it’s been spun that way?
A. Yeah, this is a good question. At the same time, this was a hard period for me, for my wife, for my children. The first point, I think, that the conspiracy theorists have taken up, is efforts to reduce the role of the king car. To dare to attack the king car is, for the conspiracy mongers, an attack on individual freedom. I’m not in a war against cars, but we need to reduce the place of cars. The second point is related. The conspiracy mongers are climate skeptics, climate denialists. Today, scientists are a target of the denialists, because we said we have climate change, and this is irreversible. We have a lot of places with great risk if we continue to live with the same habits, if we continue to have this massive production and consumption.
The third point was about COVID. Because of COVID, we had this lockdown. When I proposed this question of proximity, the climate denialists, the anti-vaccine, the people that said that COVID-19 was a Chinese gun, considered that my idea was proposing a new lockdown. This is totally false, this is totally insane.
We have been living in very dark times. The dark face of humanity has become totally visible. The conspiracy mongers today are, today, with digital technologies, with fake news, with the bubble of false ideas, the denialists of science. I am just a scientist. But for climate denialists, we are the enemy, the scientists.
Q. Who would you say your intended audience for this book is?
A. This book is aimed at anyone interested in cities and ecosystems. It’s a book of work, knowledge, and deepening the concept, but it’s open to all disciplines because it’s written in a language that’s accessible to everyone. As I like to do, it also includes a lot of personal anecdotes, stories from my own life, and elements of the history of cities that even very erudite people don’t necessarily know.
My aim is threefold: to present the concept as it emerged, by looking back at the history of modern urbanism, looking in the rear-view mirror and learning from many thinkers and doers; to explain it in detail, using the example of Paris, my city, which popularized it thanks to the commitment of Mayor Anne Hidalgo; and to go around the world, on five continents, with all kinds of examples to show that this concept does not depend on the size or density of places, nor on the political party or local governance — but that it is a humanist path for urban planning based on the quality of life of the inhabitants, faced with the ecological, economic, and social challenge for which it is urgent to change our way of life before it’s too late.
Q. What impact do you hope the book will have in the world?
A. I wrote this book as a bottle thrown into the sea in the image of my life. I wanted to offer the best of myself in a humanistic way, with a broad vision of our problems, without being dogmatic or sectarian about this or that. It is just a look at science, explaining the facts, making observations, and looking to the future, how we live and how we’d like to live differently.
I’ve been asked to register trademarks, patents, and licenses, create manuals, launch a competition. None of that interests me. A book is a profound part of yourself that you decide to share with everyone. It is written to reflect, not to proselytize. As a scientist, researcher, and teacher, I like to delve into the subject, to delve deeper, to pass on my knowledge with passion, commitment, and rigor, but without locking anyone into a single way of thinking.
And read: Moreno’s new book, The 15-Minute City, which published yesterday
A parting shot
This infographic was first shared as part of a press conference that Moreno, Hidalgo, and Paris’ deputy mayor, Jean-Louis Missika, held in 2020. Moreno credits it with sparking international interest in the 15-minute city concept, noting that it has been shared, adapted, and translated into different languages all over the world. As he writes in his book: “It clearly and visually illustrates the 15-minute city’s concept, showing how essential services such as shops, schools, parks, and public transportation can be accessed nearby, making daily life easier for residents.”
The Trump administration announced Thursday a three-phase transition that will move significant management of and responsibility for the nation's federal student loan portfolio from the U.S. Education Department to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Why now: The administration says the Treasury Department is better equipped to, among other things, help millions of borrowers who are in default return to repayment on their loans, though the move is also political: The latest sign of President Trump's efforts to close the Education Department.
About the three-phase plan: The deal's first phase will see Treasury resuming control of collecting on defaulted student loans, an authority it has long held but deferred to the Education Department. The agreement's second phase expands Treasury's management beyond defaulted loans to include servicing much of what's left, even the Education Department's non-defaulted debts. The third and final phase would see Treasury take over key responsibilities beyond the handling of current loans, assuming administration of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which students are required to complete if they want to receive federal financial aid.
The Trump administration announced Thursday a three-phase transition that will move significant management of and responsibility for the nation's federal student loan portfolio from the U.S. Education Department to the U.S. Treasury Department.
The administration says the Treasury Department is better equipped to, among other things, help millions of borrowers who are in default return to repayment on their loans, though the move is also political: The latest sign of President Donald Trump's efforts to close the Education Department.
"As the Federal student aid portfolio soars to nearly $1.7 trillion and with nearly a quarter of student loan borrowers in default, Americans know that the Department of Education has failed to effectively manage and deliver these critical programs," said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a press release. "By leveraging Treasury's world-renowned expertise in finance and economic policy, we are confident that American students, borrowers and taxpayers will finally have functioning programs after decades of mismanagement."
More than 40 million borrowers hold federal student loans.
According to the interagency agreement obtained by NPR, the deal's first phase will see Treasury resuming control of collecting on defaulted student loans, an authority it has long held but deferred to the Education Department. A senior Education Department official told reporters that 9.2 million borrowers were in default as of the beginning of March, with another 2.4 million in late-stage delinquency on their payments.
The agreement's second phase expands Treasury's management beyond defaulted loans to include servicing much of what's left, even the Education Department's non-defaulted debts, "to the extent practicable, following Treasury's assessment of the portfolio and its operations."
The third and final phase would see Treasury take over key responsibilities beyond the handling of current loans, assuming administration of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which students are required to complete if they want to receive federal financial aid.
The Treasury Department already plays an important role in the FAFSA, using its data-retrieval tool to expedite the once-onerous income-verification process for families.
It was nearly one year ago that President Trump suggested a very different move – that the Small Business Administration (SBA) would assume responsibility for the student loan portfolio. It's unclear why the administration changed its thinking and pivoted to the Treasury Department.
This is the 10th interagency agreement the administration has reached to disperse large swaths of the work of the Education Department to other agencies.
"The Trump Administration continues to unlawfully dismantle the Education Department by moving programs and offices to other federal agencies despite clear warning from Congress that Education Secretary Linda McMahon lacks the authority to do so," said Rachel Gittleman, president of AFGE Local 252, which represents more than 2,000 current and former employees at the U.S. Department of Education.
In response to an NPR question, a senior Education Department official acknowledged that, as was the case with many of those previous agreements, the Treasury Department cannot fully assume all the Education Department's statutory student loan obligations. The official said the department will be wound down to the extent allowable by law and that Education Secretary Linda McMahon understands that "Congress is the only entity that can close the Department."
As for what impact this may have on borrowers, the department officials told reporters: "You should see no change. This should be seamless."
The Federal Communications Commission yesterday said it had approved the merger of local television giants Nexstar Media Group and rival Tegna, the same day that two lawsuits trying to block the deal were announced.
About the deal: Nexstar said last August that it would buy Tegna for $6.2 billion.
Where things stand: The deal needed the approval of the Republican Trump administration's FCC because the government had to waive rules that limit how many local stations that one company can own. Nexstar said it had also received approval from the Justice Department, but attempts to independently confirm that were not immediately successful Thursday.
Who opposes it: Attorneys general in eight states, including California, and DirecTV filed lawsuits with the U.S. District Court in Sacramento seeking to block the merger. The lawsuits make similar arguments that the deal will lead to higher prices for consumers and stifle local journalism.
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday said it had approved the merger of local television giants Nexstar Media Group and rival Tegna, the same day that two lawsuits trying to block the deal were announced.
Nexstar said last August that it would buy Tegna for $6.2 billion. The deal would create a company that owns 265 television stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, most of them local affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the company had agreed to divest itself of six of those stations.
The deal needed the approval of the Republican Trump administration's FCC because the government had to waive rules that limit how many local stations that one company can own. Nexstar said it had also received approval from the Justice Department, but attempts to independently confirm that were not immediately successful Thursday.
"We are grateful to President Trump, Chairman Carr and the DOJ for recognizing the dynamic forces shaping the media landscape and allowing this transaction to move forward," said Perry Sook, Nexstar's chairman and CEO.
Attorneys general in eight states and DirecTV filed lawsuits with the U.S. District Court in Sacramento, California, seeking to block the merger. The lawsuits make similar arguments that the deal will lead to higher prices for consumers and stifle local journalism.
The action was filed by the top lawyers in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia — all of them Democrats. "If this merger moves forward, cable prices will spike for consumers in New York and across the country," said Letitia James, New York attorney general, on Thursday. The state lawyers argued the merger would run afoul of federal laws designed to protect against monopolies.
Similarly, DirecTV predicted the deal would allow Nexstar to jack up the price it can extract from DirecTV and other distributors to carry their stations, "which will force them to raise prices to their subscribers."
Given Nexstar's tendency to consolidate newsrooms in communities where it owns more than one station, both lawsuits expressed concern that the merger would hurt the already struggling local news business. There are 31 markets across the country where Nexstar and Tegna own at least one station, according to the states' lawsuit.
In approving the deal, Carr said that "if you care about local news, you should care about the future of local broadcast stations." He said the deal will ensure that the broadcasters have the resources to continue investing in those operations. Sook, too, said Nexstar will be a stronger company, "better positioned to deliver exceptional journalism and local programming."
Nexstar had no direct comment on the lawsuits, a spokesman said.
The merger was endorsed in February by President Donald Trump, who wrote on social media that "we need more competition against THE ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks."
Anna Gomez, a Democratic member of the FCC, condemned the Republican-controlled agency's decision, saying it was done behind closed doors without an actual vote.
"Local journalism is under extraordinary strain," she said. "Across the country newsrooms are being consolidated, reporters laid off and editorial decisions made far from the communities broadcast stations are licensed to serve. The Nexstar-Tegna merger will accelerate exactly that trend, concentrating broadcast power in fewer corporate hands, shrinking independent editorial voices and prioritizing national business interests over local needs."
Nexstar flexed its muscles last fall in ordering its ABC stations to yank late-night host Jimmy Kimmel following comments he made about assassinated Republican activist Charlie Kirk, briefly leading to Kimmel's suspension. But ABC brought Kimmel back following an outcry, and Nexstar backed down.
The attorneys general said they were open to having other states support their actions — even those whose chief legal officials are Republicans.
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Published March 19, 2026 4:45 PM
A mural inside the César Chávez building at Santa Ana College.
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LAist
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Topline
Public officials across California are contemplating what to do with dozens of streets, parks and libraries named in honor of civil rights icon César Chávez in the wake of allegations he sexually assaulted two girls and a woman decades ago. Chávez died in 1993.
The backstory: The allegations surfaced in an investigation by the New York Times published earlier this week that sent shock waves across the country.
Renaming a holiday: Many state and local leaders, including L.A.’s mayor and county supervisors, suggested changing the César Chávez holiday on March 31 to Farmer Workers Day. March 31 was Chávez’s birthday. In Sacramento on Thursday, Democratic leaders of the state Legislature said they would push for such a change.
What's next: The process for renaming streets and other public structures varies from city to city and school district to school district. It could take months before many cities move to erase Chávez's name from public spaces.
Read on ... for more on the movement to rename these monuments and tributes.
Public officials across California are contemplating what to do with dozens of streets, parks and libraries named in honor of civil rights icon César Chávez in the wake of allegations he sexually assaulted two girls and a woman decades ago.
The allegations surfaced in an investigation by the New York Times published earlier this week that sent shock waves across the country.
Chávez, who was head of the United Farm Workers union, is widely recognized as one of the most influential labor leaders in U.S. history, known for founding the union and for leading national boycotts of grapes to improve working conditions for farmworkers.
Chávez died in 1993.
Many state and local leaders, including L.A.’s mayor and county supervisors, suggested changing the César Chávez holiday on March 31 to Farm Workers Day. March 31 was Chávez’s birthday.
In Sacramento on Thursday, Democratic leaders of the state Legislature said they would push for such a change.
“The farmworker movement was never ever about one man,” Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said at a news conference. “It was built by tens of thousands of workers. People who labored in the fields, people who organized, people who sacrificed and who stood up when it was hard.
“We have a responsibility to remember the movement and to move it forward with integrity.”
Also on Thursday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed a proclamation renaming the city's César Chávez Day holiday as “Farm Workers Day.” The city recognizes the holiday on the last Monday of March.
“I grew up as a child admiring the farmworker movement,'' Bass said. “I didn't think I was ever going to eat grapes again because my family boycotted grapes.”
The grape strike, organized in part by Chávez, lasted five years from 1965 to 1970.
Multiple allegations of sexual assault
The New York Times investigation uncovered multiple allegations that Chávez had sexually assaulted girls and women in the 1960s and ‘70s, when he was head of United Farm Workers, including union co-founder Dolores Huerta.
Huerta, now 95, told the Times the rape and sexual assault resulted in pregnancies that she kept secret. Huerta said she gave the children up for adoption after birth.
In a statement, Huerta said in part: “... for the last 60 years [I] have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.”
Bass said Thursday she met Chávez once and “thought it was an opportunity of a lifetime.” She said her heart “broke” this week when she heard the allegation that Chávez had raped Huerta.
The mayor said renaming the holiday would allow people “to reflect on how the struggle of farmworkers has elevated working people everywhere.”
She added that the city would need to consider changing the names of buildings, streets and other things named in honor of Chávez.
For example, César Chávez Avenue runs through the heart of the Boyle Heights neighborhood. Several murals of Chávez dot the city.
Bass said she had been in contact with Chávez's family, and they supported her action.
The mayor was joined at the proclamation signing by Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, who said in a statement that the farmworker movement has always been about the power of the people, “especially the women whose labor built it and too often went unseen."
“As we honor that legacy, we also have a responsibility to tell the truth about harm and stand with survivors,” Hernandez said.
Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado also attended the news conference. She said the movement doesn’t belong to one person.
“Farm Workers Day honors the workers, families and organizers still in the fields and still fighting for fair wages, safe conditions and dignity,” the statement from Jurado read. “And it recognizes that this movement is carried forward every single day by people whose names we may never know but whose impact continues to define the spirit of Los Angeles.”
Other cities and counties
Many other cities and counties are considering wiping Chávez's name from public spaces.
L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis said she would introduce a motion looking at renaming the county’s César Chávez holiday.
Supervisor Janice Hahn suggested the county consider renaming Chávez day “Farm Worker Day.”
“For those of us who grew up admiring the farmworker movement, today's news is heartbreaking,'' Hahn said in a statement Wednesday. "But as in any other civil rights movement, men were only half the story. The abuses of one man will never diminish the extraordinary sacrifices, accomplishments, and legacy of the women of the farmworker movement.
“It's time we put them first.”
The process for renaming streets and other public structures varies from city to city and school district to school district. It could take months before many cities move to erase Chávez's name from public spaces.
You can follow your city council agenda to keep up with what’s going on, or better yet, reach out to your representatives on the council and county Board of Supervisors to make your voice heard on the issue.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (right) speaks as Attorney General Rob Bonta looks on during a news conference April 16, 2025, in Ceres. A new lawsuit seeks to reinstate the 2009 conclusion that carbon dioxide and other planet-warming gases threaten public health and welfare.
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Justin Sullivan
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Topline:
California, as well as Los Angeles County, along with a coalition of 23 other states and a dozen cities and counties, sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday for rolling back the scientific finding requiring it to regulate greenhouse gas pollution.
Why it matters: The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, seeks to reinstate a 2009 conclusion known as the endangerment finding — that carbon dioxide and other planet-warming gases threaten public health and welfare. The climate rule served as the scientific basis for the agency’s ability to limit emissions under the Clean Air Act.
California, along with a coalition of 23 other states and a dozen cities and counties, sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday for rolling back the scientific finding requiring it to regulate greenhouse gas pollution.
“This isn’t a small technical change,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said at a press conference in Sacramento. “It’s a sweeping decision that would increase pollution, worsen climate change and put the health of millions of Americans at risk. And it’s not based on any credible science.”
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, seeks to reinstate a 2009 conclusion known as the endangerment finding — that carbon dioxide and other planet-warming gases threaten public health and welfare.
The climate rule served as the scientific basis for the agency’s ability to limit emissions under the Clean Air Act.
The Trump administration finalized the repeal of the endangerment finding Feb. 12. A post on the EPA’s website stated the change would also dissolve restrictions on vehicle emissions and save Americans $1.3 trillion.
“As a result of these changes, engine and vehicle manufacturers no longer have any future obligations for the measurement, control and reporting of GHG emissions for any highway engine and vehicle, including model years manufactured prior to this final rule.”
Sanchez said California’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the landmark 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act, AB 32, signed into law by then-Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, “remains unchanged.”
Los Angeles, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties also were parties to the suit.
