City Councillor Andrew Knack praised 15-minute cities for Edmonton, stating, “You won’t need a car.”
Proposed in 2020, the city council is taking the next steps in preparing Edmonton to become a 15-minute city, creating a plan where every necessity is within a 15-minute walk from you in your assigned district.
However, many Edmontonians oppose the new district plan, uneasy about the potential for limited vehicle spaces and receiving fines for leaving their 15-minute district.
Councillor Keren Tang spoke on the concerned citizens, saying, “I think, unfortunately, a lot of the district planning, in particular, has been derailed by 15-minute city conspiracy theories, the World Economic Forum (WEF), etc. At the end of the day, this is about land use.”
Knack has been active on social media, praising 15-minute cities, even admitting that Edmontonians will no longer need cars following the implementation.
In a TikTok video of him explaining what a 15-minute city is and trying to address the “conspiracy theories,” Knack states, “You’re not going to have to worry about traffic because people won’t need a car.”
Knack explains how convenient life without a car would be, clarifying that the district plans allow every necessity to be within a “15-minute walk, not a 15-minute drive.”
Citizens were astonished by his praising of a no-car lifestyle, commenting, “That’s called control” and “Do you think we should walk in -30 winters?”
The WEF promotes the abandonment of cars
Furthermore, the WEF recently promoted a no-car lifestyle in alignment with Knack’s statement and provided ideas for city planners to change citizens’ mentality.
On May 15th, the WEF highlighted a recently completed study out of Australia to reduce the usage of cars on the road.
The article goes on to highlight “seven actions that city planners and leaders can focus on to support Australia’s green transition.” “The full suite of city plans and strategies must pull together to end the overreliance on the private car so that all people have four-plus travel modes to choose from, no matter where in the city they live, work, study, or play.”
