Tucson 15-minute city proposal calls for reprioritization of transportation away from automobiles

Tuscon, Arizona – The City of Tucson has put forth a Climate Action Plan to implement the controversial 15-minute-city agenda in a citywide referendum labeled “Tucson Resilient Together.” This proposal comes at the heels of Tucson Mayor Regina Romero’s declaration of a climate emergency, and commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by the year 2030.

Tucson’s Climate Action Plan coincides with the controversial 15-minute city global agenda being promoted by the World Economic Forum as a perverted form of convenience and a benefit to the environment. It declares that all basic necessities should be within 15 minutes of walking, biking, or rolling distance from home. The idea has been around for decades but came to prevalence during the pandemic.

On page 18 of the Climate Adaptation Plan, the city proudly declares its efforts to, “orient community planning efforts toward a ’15-minute’ city, enabling community access to basic amenities within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from home.” The city continues on pages 97-109 under the section labeled “Transportation and Land Use” to partially describe their idea of a 15-minute City.

“For decades, government and business interests have prioritized private vehicle travel over all other modes; the majority of trips in Tucson today occur in private vehicles which discharge harmful pollutants into the air and water. Looking towards our resilient future, we will reprioritize sustainable movement – starting with walking, biking, rolling, and public transit. This will be supported by land use regulations that support our vision for a “15-minute city,” where every resident can access daily necessities within 15 minutes of walking, biking, and rolling. This means considering clusters of affordable and market-rate housing as well as neighborhood amenities, schools, and employment centers located near transit corridors. It also means using tools such as Planned Area Developments and Flexible Lot Developments, as well as incentive-based programs, that support high-quality attractive design for new housing and promote a diverse mix of uses, densities, and housing types.”

Page 97 of Tuscon Resilient Together Climate Adaption Plan

The plan was developed with recommendations made in the Tucson Mayor’s Office Climate Listening Sessions Report published in 2022 and facilitated by Southwest Decision Resources. The report highlighted the recommendations of over 150 members of climate activist groups, including the Sonoran Institute, the Climate Justice Network, the Climate Change Coalition of the University of Arizona, and the Tucson Climate Coalition.

The 15-minute agenda is hailed by the United Nations and the World Economic Forum as a program for cities to achieve the sustainable development goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. The agenda argues that cities have prioritized automobiles over alternative modes of transportation, and that this prioritization is discriminatory against people of color and detrimental to the environment. They claim that polluting industries are constructed and concentrated in poor neighborhoods, exacerbating air and water quality concerns. They also claim that poor people are less likely to own a car. Therefore, cities must be transformed to prioritize public transportation to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement (Agenda 2030).

In the plan, the city of Tucson declared they will provide incentives for vehicle owners to go electric, or use alternative electric and micro-mobility options. The city has established public and private partnerships with companies providing micro-mobility transportation like rental bicycles and scooters. They also highlighted their efforts to prioritize future development in carless communities, including new high-density affordable housing developments.

The same agenda has been implemented in multiple major cities across the world. It is a key component of the controversial Agenda 2030 from the United Nations, which aims to confine citizens in population centers of smart cities to surveil and track their every move. Most notably, the cities of Oxford and Paris have taken steps to implement a draconian version of the 15-minute city agenda. These plans have faced scrutiny for provisions that confine citizens to geographical areas of the city and require citizens to purchase a permit to leave their district.

The 15-minute city agenda is currently being implemented in other cities and towns across Arizona under the guise of transportation planning and zoning. These plans may seem harmless on the outside. However, they will fundamentally transform how our cities and towns operate and how we travel. These plans are the most radical transformation of our way of life in Arizona that we have ever seen, and must not be ignored.

The Arizona people ought to oppose any government policies that aim to fundamentally transform our way of life. It is more important than ever to attend your local zoning and planning meetings. If you are a property owner, miner, rancher, or outdoor enthusiast, these plans will affect you.