The 15-minute city is not a new concept, but it has been gaining cultural currency in recent years. I’ve had the fortunate bias of growing up in one of the few North American cities that is (at times) walkable and has a variety of transportation options. So, when I came across the term, it sounded exciting; surely, everyone would like to have more convenience in accessing their daily needs! As Whittle highlights, this desire had a watershed moment during the Covid-19 pandemic. For the first time, we turned our gaze onto our local communities and neighborhoods. Given all this, you could imagine my surprise when I also learned that some people bristled to the concept and reacted almost violently, decrying it as totalitarian. Nothing quite like it to demonstrate how polarized we are, I suppose. Never mind that <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2025/02/07/what-can-the-worlds-most-walkable-cities-teach-other-places">15-minute cities</a> consistently rank higher on human wellness metrics or convenience.
With that introduction, I fully admit that I am a biased reader for this book, and indeed, Whittle was certainly preaching to the choir for most of it. At one point, she does briefly address the criticisms raised by the opposing side, but I did feel a bit disappointed as I don’t think she really gets into the source of these concerns. It is a short book, but when most of it is merely explaining the 15-minute city or providing specific case studies, it would be helpful to have a more informed view on what these ‘arguments’ really are. (I do think the criticism comes from a place of fear, that age-old conservative tendency that rejects openness and fears anything novel—even though the 15-minute city is really bringing humanity back to our roots.)
I did enjoy the various examples that Whittle discusses in the book, among them the city of Paris and its plans to develop a more carbon-neutral, walkable city. As per the study above, I was surprised to learn that Paris isn’t even the most walkable city in Europe—it’s Milan. To no one’s surprise, North American cities don’t even come up in the top 50… you have to wait until Vancouver at #53. Walking is good for you and cycling is especially good for you—both are great for the planet. Governments and societies should push people towards these and make them not only convenient but even preferable.
For all her research, I did feel that the book lacked an overall cohesion as well as chapter cohesion. The chapters all relate to aspects of the 15-minute city, but you might find yourself several pages into a chapter and uncertain of where exactly Whittle is taking you. One chapter focuses on time itself and thus gives a nice historical overview of timekeeping devices, which I found incredibly fascinating—but it may not catch everyone’s attention if their focus is strictly on urban planning. She also had one incredibly large chapter in the middle that seemed like it would focus on cycling, which piqued my interest, but then the discussion devolved into other topics. The pacing of the chapters was thus imbalanced.
At times, she worded sentences weirdly in such a way that I had to re-read them several times, and even then, I wasn’t sure I fully understood. For example, you might find an overly vague statement such as: ‘That we have limited time can we worrying and unnerving. For an idealized proposal of city life to build in brevity as a virtue could feel like an affront to this problem.’ Not only is this vague, but it hedges on the point of the criticisms against the 15-minute city concept, and I don’t think this does any favors to the reader. There was also this: ‘What is provisioned in a neighborhood might influence your quality of life, but it won’t influence every detail of your life course. Those are different things.’ Is it rude to point out that this is obvious?
Still, despite these flaws, Whittle’s book is a solid primer on the concept of the 15-minute city; if you are already familiar with it, this may not be the book for you, unless you are interested in reading about specific examples or tangential historical tidbits. If you just want a quick overview, this will do just fine. This book was also a great exercise in taking a look at <a href="https://www.academia.edu/63481915/15_Minute_City_Decomposing_the_New_Urban_Planning_Eutopia">different ways of conceptualizing urban planning and how we may want to organize our living spaces</a>. What are the boundaries of the urban environment and how do we imagine ourselves in relation to them? Whittle rightly brings up food desserts and accessibility as important concerns that we must make room for in these types of discussions. I do think having a cautious but optimistic enthusiasm about 15-minute cities (and with a necessary dose of advocacy) is vital to reinvigorating our dying cities and Main Streets, particularly in North America. We do not have to complacently hand over our cities and lives to cars and robots.

Notable quotes:
※ ‘Commuters, he noted in our conversation, have an average journey of around one hour, or a two-hour round trip to work and back.’
※ ‘In America, cycling is an accessory to childhood freedoms in the suburbs or midlife Americans’ weekends recorded on Strava.’
※ ‘The Fietsersbond, the Dutch cycling union, also reaches for a more abstract virtue, a happiness bounce that comes from cycling.’

This book explains in an easy to follow way, the benefits of a walkable city, much like Paris or any other European city. The walkable city would, at first, be looked at oddly by an American audience, but then, would be embraced for the ease of living and the "I never asked for this" component of unintended exercise.

I couldn't put this little book down. Whittle does a great job explaining the 15 minute city, its history, and possible problems that this urban planning schema presents. Take it one chapter at a time or devour it in one read like I did. Shrink the City is a nonfiction book that takes you on a tour of the future.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley, and this review is voluntary

The literature discusses the theory of the 15-minute city, or an urban landscape developed to be tighter, and more connected. More pathways for walking, and cycling as a means of transpiration. Introducing greener buildings, or a more equitable environmental. Pushing for interconnectivity to allow for overall accessibility.

Some takeaways:

In the pre-face, there is mention of redlining in Zoning, which is a discriminatory practice in housing policy; however, it's not touched upon enough in the rest of the literature, vis-a-vis the impact of the policy itself on homeownership for African-Americans, at least as it relates to the history of real estate in the United States. What it means to be born in the wrong Zipcode.

I found the first chapter to be chalk full of information, but with the way it's presented it does ramble a bit. Swinging back and forth between past and present, to provide examples to highlight the idea currently being discussed, per the view of the 15-minute city.

The rest of the chapters are written from the perspective of what has worked in other areas. Provided to the reader as less of a comparative analysis, but how it could work, because of what's already worked elsewhere. Overall, it's not a bad read. The concept of the 15-minute city is an interesting one for urban planning. When it comes to how things are for us on the American side, I'm not sure how the theory would manifest if there was enough space for it. What I do think, though, is that pieces of the theory can be introduced within our existing framework. A slow, or gradual change from within. It won't be perfect, but until we start to tackle the root problems, and generate remedy for those problems, the status quo will remain.

A couple of things I think should have been mentioned:

The re-usage of existing buildings. A good chunk of the literature discussed work-from-home policy, or mentioned the pandemic, which inevitably led some businesses to shutter their doors, or change company policy so folks can work from home, which potentially leaves a building empty. There are complications both on the alteration and renovation side, as well as building codes, but for what can be re-used or re-purposed to meet the end goal of the 15-minute city should be included.

And lastly, unless I missed it, I don't believe accessibility for those with disabilities was mentioned, which ironically - accessibility, is the heart of the 15-minute city policy. Can't tell you how many older buildings I've walked into without an access ramp for those with wheelchairs, or a bathroom that doesn't provide handrails, or a turning radius in the bathroom for a wheel chair user. In order to have an ideal city that works for all, it must include all. That should be discussed a bit more as part of the actual thesis statement. Accessibility through inclusivity.

Otherwise, this was well-written and researched. Should probably take a second look to see if it could be organized a little better, but it was very informative.

A book about the 15 minute city experiment as it relates to our cities and how could it apply to cities of the future.

This wasn’t really structured in a way I thought it would be. It felt a bit rambling at times, and I wish it had done more of a case study for each chapter.