How Simple Traffic-Calming Measures Turned Into a Dangerous Global Conspiracy Theory
Otto English talks to the Byline Times Podcast about LTNs and the rise of the '15 Minute City' Conspiracists
When seemingly mundane traffic-calming measures suddenly become the target for an outlandish global conspiracy theory, you know you’re living in truly bizarre times – but that’s precisely what has happened with Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (aka LTNs).
LTNs are neighbourhoods where road layouts have been redesigned to force cars away from suburban ‘rat runs’ or crowded city centres.
Typically, a couple of heavy planters might be employed to block a through route, in order to permit the free-flow of cyclists and pedestrians, whilst deliberately restricting the movement of motorists.
The overall aim is to reduce pollution, make streets safer, and encourage drivers out of their cars.
Not everyone sees it that way and they have inevitably prompted complaints about local shops potentially losing trade, with others suggesting that the restrictions could simply move traffic onto neighbouring streets.
These are precisely the kind of reasonable debates that initially raged when a a Low Traffic Neighbourhood was introduced on one of my local high streets, Kings Heath in Birmingham, a few years ago.
This is all fair game for local radio phone ins and newspaper letter pages. However, at recent protests in Oxford and Ealing in West London, these concerns have begun to mix with those who wish to portray LTNs as being part of a supposedly sinister worldwide movement promoting “15 Minute Cities.”
Again, the concept may seem innocuous, reflecting the notion that every citizen should have access to key public services within a 15-minute walk or bike ride. This would include shops, schools, parks, healthcare facilities, and places of entertainment.
Residents of Britain’s blighted post-industrial towns and outlying estates might regard convenient access to a range of facilities like this as a significant upgrade, as they wait in vain for the benefits of Boris Johnson’s ‘levelling up’ agenda and indeed recent polling by YouGov has found widespread public support for them.
That’s not how the conspiracy theorists see it, however. They regard the 15 Minute City as yet more sinister evidence of “The Great Reset” – a far-right conspiracy theory that the Covid pandemic was orchestrated by a cabal of politicians and business leaders through the World Economic Forum to control the global population.
And with civic leaders as geographically distant from each other as Paris, Melbourne and Portland, Oregon all lending their support to this new urban ideal, this conspiracy theory has inevitably gone global.
One particular discussion about personalised “carbon trackers” at the WEF in Davos in 2022 has been seized upon by some conspiracy-minded Youtubers as evidence that what’s really at stake is individual freedom.
Would it matter if these people discovered an article on the WEF website that was actually critical of 15-minute cities? Probably not, because many who hold these views seem oblivious to facts.
As my colleague Otto English pointed out in a fascinating recent Byline Times article, those sowing suspicion about 15 Minute Cities – and thereby LTNs – include some familiar faces.
These include well-known ‘libertarians’ such as James Melville, Laurence Fox and Neil Oliver; as well writers from the Spiked network.
They portray a dystopian future where the lockdowns of the Covid years have morphed into a “climate lockdown”.
While it’s easy to mock those pushing these theories, such ideas can be dangerous.
The baseless, fantastical slurs of QAnon, for example, fuelled the January 6th insurrection.
Gabriel Gatehouse, whose admirable podcast series The Coming Storm told the story of the attack on the Capitol, also reminded us that the Malleus Maleficarum, a 15th century treatise on witches – another conspiracy theory - led to the deaths of 40,000 women across Europe.
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and 15 Minute Cities may – or may not – be a good thing. That’s open to debate. But the fact that the conspiracies around them are so deeply dangerous seems indisputable.
Listen here for an exclusive preview of the Byline Times podcast, where Adrian Goldberg discusses 15 Minute Cities, LTNs and conspiracy theories with Otto English.
Interesting including the likes of or identifying usual suspects influenced by US fossil fueled donor networks and think tanks of the nativist (faux) libertarian right.
One assumes 'they' can see 15 minute cities being a threat to fossil fuels and the status quo, hence, another conspiracy to muddy the water?
It looks to me like the idea of Smart Cities has somehow got mixed up in the 15 minute cities discourse by people who don’t want to give up their cars. Heaven help us all 🙄