Improving Justice Though the 15-Minute City aligns in part with the justice theories described previously, equal access to amenities through proximity alone is not enough to ensure justice and a reversal of persistent historical inequalities. Accessibility to daily needs via proximity is a necessary but not sufficient factor for justice as it only addresses distributive justice. In addition, the other three components (density, diversity, and ubiquity) are largely in support of proximity and as such do not address justice individually. All things being equal, the end result of a fully implemented 15-Minute City has the potential to be just, if everyone is included and is able to satisfy their daily needs. However, without consideration for the representative and procedural justice aspects, the conversion of an urban area from its current state into a fully implemented 15-Minute City may not occur in a just way. In order to ensure justice throughout the process, the distributional aspects need to be extended, and procedural and representative justice need to be included. This can be accomplished through a recognition of the differences of ability, a change in decision making structures to include marginal voices in society, and a recognition that some areas or groups require more and/or earlier investment through implementation priority.
Differences of Ability The 15-Minute City deals with distributive justice by setting a time-based minimum for service provision, but by treating everyone as equal, the concept does not take into account the differences in mobility that are highlighted through the Capability Approaches (Sen, 1979). Proximity to a desired 22
resource, in the form of local services and amenities, is necessary for urban quality of life. However, it does not guarantee that a resident can navigate through the urban environment in order to convert that available resource into the desired outcome. For example, not having a wheelchair accessible route, not being able to afford a bike, or not being able to understand a bus system may block a user from reaching a destination, even if it is within a 15-minute journey. Thus, proximity also requires that an individual has the capability to convert that proximity into a resource. To its credit, the 15-Minute City is attempting to solve the problems of uneven capability and past planning injustice by making essential services and amenities available to all residents. Some urban areas, particularly outlying or suburban neighbourhoods, may be very deficient in terms of the six essential functions, in which case providing any amenity can improve the local quality of life. In addition, focusing efforts on reallocating vehicle space to active transportation infrastructure can have an enabling effect for some residents. However, adding amenities and creating infrastructure is only the first step in accounting for differences in capability. It is essential to ask whether or not initiatives are useful and beneficial for local residents’ needs.
State-Centric to Society-Centric One of the methods of identifying and responding to citizen needs is by including a society-centric approach to planning (Karner et al., 2020). The 15-Minute City can be seen as a state-centric concept, as it establishes a top-down minimum standard for services
