Comment by nephihaha a day ago
Bhutan sounds cute, but I wonder what the reality is. The city sounds like another one of these globalist smart city projects like Neom in Saudi Arabia, or Rwanda's African showpiece. I'm sure said city will have cameras on every corner, and probably 15 minute city aspects.
I think he refers to Gelephu Mindfulness City. I read it differently, not as a generic globalist city but very much a middle ground between Bhutanese culture (deep Buddhist presence, it will maintain vernacular architectures codes throughout, no skyscrapers) and global capital attractiveness (special economic zone, some tax benefits but not a tax haven in any way, crypto adoption, etc.)
I didn't mean Bhutan in general. I was referring to Bhutan's new city project. It seems similar to new cities elsewhere, maybe even Auroville (or whatever it is called). Singapore is great in some ways, not so much in others. (It is arguable how democratic Singapore is, since its parliament has a lot of hereditary politicians in it, like Thailand or Greece.)
Bhutan has sold itself as a Shangri La for decades. Whether it is, is another problem. It seems all over the world the peasants are being herded into urban panopticons.
The 15 minute city is sold as a place with amenities within easy. The reality will end up being forced to live within a small area in some kind of gated community with a curfew.
Besides which, where are these amenities nowadays? Small businesses were decimated by discriminatory lockdown enforcement. Physical libraries and community centres are being shut. As are bars and cafes. If there was a real 15 minute city, it's in the past. The internet is no substitute for in person interaction.
I’d argue that any sufficiently dense city is naturally a 15 minute city, and tens of millions of people (including myself) live in them. For example: in New York, Tokyo, London etc. one can feasibly access all the amenities they need within a “15-minute walk, bike ride, or public transit ride”.
The key thing is that these cities developed this way organically. There is nothing stopping me leaving my 15 minute radius if I want to, and I regularly do.
You’ve been reading/watching too much propaganda and disinformation, and are weirdly focused on COVID precautions that are long over. You should break out of whatever online communities you’re part of that consume this sort of nonsense.
Who decides what is "disinformation"? Oh yes, it's the same groups already running everything. Covid precautions are not long over. They are only three or four years ago and still affect global food prices. Some businesses are still struggling to pay off that shortfall if not bankrupted. It's also allowed the ruling class to use ever more scaremongering as a means of social control... And use the "misinformation"/"disinformation" labels to shut down public debate.
Also half the stuff they came up with was not scientific like allowing flights to continue while shutting small businesses.
By the way, most of what I am talking about is what I saw at street level. You couldn't be much radicalised by online activity. I got censored by Facebook for asking simply about the mental health cost effects of lockdown. Absolute disgrace. I knew several people who died from the isolation including one who drank himself to death.
Weird comparison. Neom doesn’t exist, whereas Bhutan has been around for centuries.
It’s a unique place, not just an idea. Friendly people and a government that looks at more than GDP as a success metric.