16. Imagine your home is in the center of a big circle. Everything you need is a 10﹣minute walk away. How convenient it will be!
Recently, a group of architects (建筑师) from South Korea decided to make this reality. They are planning a city with everything people need﹣including living areas, study rooms, offices and amusement parks-within a 10-minute walk from home.
When explaining the aim of the city, Ben Berkel, co-founder of design company UNS Studio, believes that people's daily life experience is the most important. The "10-minute city" can save time we usually used to travel elsewhere. "With time that is saved, more time is created. , Berkel told CNN. However, the idea of such a city is not new. French﹣Colombian researcher, Carlos Moreno, put forward the similar idea of "10-minute city" which was named 4415-minute city^, in 2016. The COVID-19 has made it more popular. During the pandemic (流行病) many people have been focused to spend most of their time at home, with less chance to go out of their communities.
Paloma Ezzet, 16, is an example. She said that before the pandemic, she liked to play soccer or go dancing. But during a pandemic, she had to give them up as no such areas for people to have fun or no sports equipment were in her community. "It is gloomy and lonely, "Ezzet told the New York Times.
French professor Roxana Bobulescu agrees that the pandemic has broken our routine, making us rethink our lives and what our cities can look like. Ten-minute cities may be a good choice.
But not everyone likes the idea. Some people say it would further concentrate (集中) wealth in most convenient areas, resulting in high house prices. So with such risk, should people stop considering this idea?Maybe not. As Bobulescu said, "The seeds are there and they will grow little by little. "