WEBINAR | London and Paris: making healthy, accessible, local cities

**Bookings have now closed for this event**

Paris’ adoption of the 15-minute city model has sparked imagination around the world. With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating changes to our cities, many are taking the opportunity to rethink how people use them in all formats be it walking, cycling or driving.

In London, 2020 saw wide-spread adoption of the initiative from central government to create more space for pedestrians and cycling. Unfortunately, these changes have in some cases been quickly reversed, and in others created polarised debates between cyclists and drivers that distract from the bigger opportunities to repurpose our neighbourhoods and local centres. 

London has always been a ‘city of villages’ so is now the time to make this leap?  How can we create connected neighbourhoods, genuinely co-designed by Londoners and truly accessible for all ages, physical abilities and social background? Can we learn from the experience of Paris and what do we need to do differently to create London a 15-minute city?

In this talk, we will hear from Professor Moreno, architect of the proposals for Paris as a 15-minute city, Phillippa Banister (Street Space) on how working with local communities can bring change in how streets are used, Kirsty Hoyle (Transport for All) highlighting their Paving the Way report and how better consultation can improve street space for accessibility and Julia Thrift (Town & Country Planning Association) who are developing their own proposals for UK-wide 20 minute cities.

The event is chaired by Roland Karthaus, Matter Architecture

Image: Streets are rooms for neighbours to meet: photograph taken by Herman Hertzberger in Paris in the 1970s. Today, tables are allowed to spill onto pavements and roads in Paris, in order to maintain rules of social distancing

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