The Obel Award
Carlos Moreno | obelaward.org
The Henrik Frode Obel Foundation has bestowed the 2021 Obel Award on Professor Carlos Moreno of Pantheon Sorbonne University in Paris for his development of the 15-minute city framework. The award, selected by a five-person jury, is an international prize to honor outstanding architectural contributions to human development all over the world. The jury recognized the 15-minute city as “an ambitious and complex urban strategy — but also a refreshingly pragmatic approach” that can be adjusted to local culture, conditions, and needs. The jury statement continues: “The 15-minute city is an intuitive concept and has the capacity to deliver tangible change in people’s lives. For these reasons, it has proven easy to translate into political programmes and policies that transform cities.”
The Obel award statement enumerates the following benefits of the 15-minute city:
Better health and quality of life
A more environmentally sustainable city
A more equitable and inclusive city
A boost to the local economy
The statement points out that “many of the qualities of the 15-minute city were the norm before cars became dominant, and cities were divided into disconnected areas.” It cites Houston, Milan, Brussels, Valencia, Chengdu, and Melbourne, as well as Paris where it is best known, as implementing the ideas behind the 15-minute city with success.
obelaward.org
This award, first and foremost, recognizes the foundational work that Prof. Moreno and his team have done to develop and evangelize the 15-minute city concept. But it also reflects the rapidly growing global importance of this urban model, especially as cities and city lovers look towards a post-pandemic future. The C40 Cities, a global network of large cities committed to addressing climate change, embraced the 15-minute city framework in 2020 as part of its “Agenda for a Green and Just Recovery.” Cities around the world are adopting many of its key elements, sometimes under different names such as the 20-minute neighborhood, the human-scale city, and complete neighborhoods.
The award includes a cash prize of €100,000. The 2021 Obel Award ceremony will take place on 21 October in Paris at the Hôtel de Ville.