This is 99% Invisible.

I'm Roman Mars.

In February 2020,

protesters took to the streets of Oxford, England.

Many were wearing yellow safety vests and holding flags and signs with complaints about the local government.

Specifically, they were protesting new urban planning policies being carried out by their city.

Best producer, Chris Perube.

Now, under normal circumstances, a protest like this might get a little bit of local media attention and then disappear.

But this one was different.

Thousands of people showed up.

And it was part of a bigger trend.

Last year, there were demonstrations happening in countries around the world protesting against an urban planning concept called the 15-minute city.

These protesters were angry, saying the 15-minute city represented fascism or socialism or some kind of a human rights violation, which was all really over the top.

Because as a planning concept, the 15-minute city is completely inoffensive.

In a nutshell, the 15-minute city concept is the idea that everything that a person needs within a city should be theoretically reachable within 15 minutes of their home by either walking or active travel or public transport.

So that's cycling, walking, buses, trains.

Burgos-Soevon is a reporter for Bloomberg's city lab.

It's a very simple concept.

It's this idea that basically cities are going to be healthier if you integrate all their uses together.

Whenever I've tried to explain the 15-minute city to people, their reaction has usually been,

oh, I mean, that sounds nice. How could you argue against having a supermarket or a daycare

down the street from your house? But in 2023, the 15-minute city entered the world of far-right conspiracy theories, and it

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