Until just a few years ago, the right riverbank of the Seine in Paris was an urban highway used by over 40,000 vehicles every day. Despite being named aUNESCO World Heritage Site，，，，The road was either heavily gridlocked during rush hour or was a corridor for cars traveling at high speeds. It contributed to the city’s high rates of air pollution, whichregularly exceeded EU limits并每年在城市中造成数千人死亡。

2016年，这条路是转换为无汽车线性公园，，，，used by commuters during the week as well as residents and visitors for leisure activities on the weekends. The move was part of a larger attempt to improve air pollution and livability in the French capital — later referred to as a “15-Minute City” program — which spanned a wide range of public investments across transportation, sustainability and new programs to strengthen neighborhood-level governance.

Urban park on the bank of the Seine river in Paris
一旦繁忙的城市高速公路，西内河的右岸已转变为一个宁静的城市公园，为行人和骑自行车的人转变为宁静的城市公园。照片由WRI。

Besides cleaning the air, residents like Corinne Ansel, a 57-year-old mom of four, saw their quality of life improve in other ways.

她说：“当塞纳河河岸的自行车道开放时，即使在远程办公室的日子里，我也开始步行或骑自行车上下班。”“在巴黎中部，沿着运河圣马丁和塞纳河，在安全的循环道路上骑自行车真是一种乐趣。”

WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities

Paris’ “15-Minute City” is a finalist for the 2021-2022WRI Ross Center Prize for Citiesdemonstrating how a strong vision for urban life transformed one city and influenced cities others around the world.

Switching to cycling for her commute also cut her travel time in half.

What started as a program to reclaim road space from private vehicles has since grown into citywide agenda for remodeling the city into a place where residents can more easily access local jobs, retail, health and cultural services within a short distance of their homes.

Challenging the Dominance of Private Cars

Despite a reputation for historical charm, Paris experienced adecades-long automotive boom在1960年代和1970年代，拥挤并污染了这座城市。在此期间，塞纳河的先前无汽车河岸被转换为以汽车为主的途径和城市公路。

In 2001, Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë initiated a string of social and environmental reforms and investments, including the world’s first major bikeshare program and the city’s first climate plan. His deputy mayor, Anne Hidalgo, was subsequently elected mayor in 2014. Following a series of discrete initiatives targeting private and polluting vehicles, increasing social housing and quality of life, Hidalgo articulated her ambitious 2020 reelection policy agenda around making Paris a 15-Minute City.

Drawing on well-known urbanist ideas, the 15-Minute City was coined by Carlos Moreno, a professor from the Paris Sorbonne Business School. It is inspired by the idea of “chrono-urbanism” — thinking about cities in terms of time, proximity and daily and seasonal rhythms. Its key ambition is to “repair” car-centric cities by moving toward a model of mixed-use neighborhoods where residents are within 15 minutes to essential services using non-polluting forms of transportation, such as walking, biking or public transport.

Stronger, More Participatory Neighborhood

凭借2020年Covid-19的第一波浪潮，希达尔戈市长办公室抓住了这一时刻，迈出了第一步，可以迈出15分钟的城市，并扩大了一套雄心勃勃的临时自行车道和街道封闭，为社交疏远提供了更多空间。如今，该市拥有超过1,000公里（621英里）的骑自行车路线，包括单独的自行车道，彩绘路径和转换后的公交车道，现在向骑自行车的人开放。

一个男人在巴黎的一条大街上骑自行车
巴黎已投资于建立自行车基础设施，包括创建超过1000公里的骑自行车路线。2021 - 2026年的计划将向自行车基础设施和便利设施投资2.5亿欧元（2.73亿美元）。照片由WRI。

巴黎还专注于将教育机构转变为当地社区枢纽以建立更健康的社区。作为旗舰倡议，市政府在下班后和周末开设了学校院子和托儿所，为居民提供休闲公共场所。一项行人“学校街道”计划为此表示赞赏，以鼓励安全的非运动旅行前往学校。

Matthieu Cornet, a resident of Paris’ diverse 18Th地区和三个孩子的父亲解释说，他喜欢关键的便利设施，包括商店，绿色和休闲空间，游泳池和公共服务，靠近他家人的家。“正是通过15分钟的城市项目，我们感谢与周围服务的接近。当您住在城市时，这是一个巨大的优势。”

以居民为中心的城市发展也在推动城市管理方式的变化。新措施将城市决策的各个方面转移到了城市的行政区及其市长。该市为每个地区创造了机会，供居民参与绿色，美化，街道家具和微型搬运的邻里规模计划。在2021年，它还提供了7500万欧元（8200万美元）的“参与预算”，居民可以分配给众包项目并投票。

激发全球运动

伊达尔戈对破坏并不陌生。她在2015年1月的查理·赫布多（Charlie Hebdo）枪击案，2015年11月的巴黎袭击和2019年巴黎巴黎大火中引导巴黎。她的寻求在造成许多城市创伤的大流行之后，实现巴黎的15分钟城市，引起了全世界市长和城市领导人的关注大流行后城市恢复的典范。这concept has been adopted in various forms by cities around the world, including墨尔本，，，，渥太华and上海。

Moreno, the concept’s originator, argued that its resonance derives from creating a simple shared language and compelling vision for city life between residents, citizens, politicians, urban planners, real estate developers, retailers and others.

卡洛斯·莫雷诺（Carlos Moreno）的肖像
Carlos Moreno, a professor at the Paris Sorbonne Business School, coined the concept of the 15-Minute City. Photo by WRI.

He reflected that the now-global concept no longer belongs to him or Paris specifically.

他说：“今天，我们在各大洲拥有数百个城市，同时拥抱这个想法。”“这已成为基于较短的城市的共同利益的共同想法……这是一种从根本上改变我们的城市生活方式的轨迹。”

这2021-2022 WRI Ross Center Prize for Citiescelebrates projects and initiatives showing how to live and thrive in turbulent times. From five finalists, one grand prize winner will be announced Feb. 1, 2023.