Seongdong-gu Hosts Special Lecture by Professor Moreno, Creator of the '15-Minute City' Concept

Lecture on 'Paris's 15-Minute City Policy and Sustainable Cities' on the 29th
Professor Moreno: "Seongdong-gu's effective implementation of policies for a new lifestyle is amazing and proud"
District Mayor Jung Won-oh: "'15-Minute City' aligns with Seongdong-gu's policies... will continue to promote various policies"

Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jung Won-oh) invited Professor Carlos Moreno from the Pantheon-Sorbonne University Graduate School of Business in France, the originator of the '15-minute city' concept, to give a special lecture on the theme of 'Paris's 15-minute city policy and sustainable cities' on the 29th.

Professor Moreno, a world-renowned scholar who appeared on EBS's 'Great Lecture' last year, proposed the '15-minute city' concept to address issues such as the climate crisis and overpopulation in large cities. The concept aims to enhance everyone's 'right to enjoy life in the city' and improve quality of life by transitioning to a polycentric city where essential social functions are provided within each individual's living radius.

First introduced in 2016, this concept was adopted as a re-election pledge by Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, in 2020 to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis, and it is currently spreading to major cities worldwide.

Seongdong-gu is also promoting various 'Seongdong-type daily living zones' policies based on this concept. A representative example is the '5-minute daily garden city Seongdong,' which aims to create daily gardens accessible to all residents within 5 minutes, allowing them to enjoy the benefits of gardens such as rest, leisure, and health promotion.

It is said that Professor Moreno's special lecture was made possible against this background. Mayor Jung Won-oh of Seongdong-gu had previously written a recommendation for the Korean edition of Professor Moreno's book (The Right to the City) and held a '15-minute city idea workshop' with residents last year, maintaining a close relationship.

Accordingly, Professor Moreno chose Seongdong-gu as the only local government in the country to visit and give a special lecture during his visit to Korea.

In the lecture, Professor Moreno emphasized, "We must change our current daily life, which is moving toward a 'semi-sustainable city' and a 'semi-sustainable world,'" and stressed, "We need to create a vibrant city where people live with nature and neighbors build it together, not a city full of inconveniences."

Especially emphasizing that the '15-minute city' should not remain theoretical but be implemented in actual urban administration, Professor Moreno expressed his gratitude several times for Seongdong-gu's recent promotion of various daily living zone policies, including the '5-minute daily garden city Seongdong,' based on his theory.

Professor Moreno, who said, "I am grateful to the mayors of cities worldwide that have adopted the 15-minute city concept," also remarked, "In particular, I am amazed that Seongdong-gu is implementing policies for a new lifestyle with execution power," adding, "I even feel a sense of pride."

Mayor Jung Won-oh of Seongdong-gu, who attended the entire special lecture, also commented, "Even in Seoul, people have to travel about 40 minutes for commuting, schooling, shopping, or hospital visits," and said, "Professor Moreno's '15-minute city' concept is about reducing such time so that citizens can use that time for their quality of life and happiness."

He continued, "Therefore, the '15-minute city' concept aligns with various policies Seongdong-gu is promoting for a 'better Seongdong' that improves residents' quality of life," and added, "We plan to continue devising and implementing various policies, including creating daily gardens, introducing public shuttle buses to eliminate blind spots in public transportation, and supporting village buses."