I like to try to understand conspiracy theories, as i believe it's possibly our best way to try and mitigate them and set people back on a level path. Not that it ever works. My take on the 15 min city theory;
15 minute cities are ostensibly a way of providing what people need in a much smaller radius, thereby reducing the need to travel and be 'mobile'. The view that they are inherently evil is rooted in the belief that society is drifting back to the age of no/low social mobility, with a totalitarian topping of mass surveillance and control.
15 min cities suggest, therefore, a defined area is required to adhere to the tyranny of green policy. The rise of devolved powers for elected mayors (
see here, for example) means that these areas will have an overseer and there own rules.
The view is that travel between these areas can be restricted in the name of green policy and climate change, that people should not be in your area as they have their own facilities.
Monitoring of this will be largely aided by the ANPR network watching all cars and transport that has, in truth, taken huge steps forward in the last 5 years. A central digital currency controlled by the Bank of England (
see here) will allow further control of people's spending habits and movements should they be deemed ill for UK society
When you put all the little conspiracy bits and bobs together, it becomes intoxicating, a way of making sense of the madness and authoritarianism that we see in governance. The above is what i pieced together from various conversations with conspiracy folk. I tend to believe that, unfortunately, society is becoming more controlled and risk-averse but whether we are headed toward a districted hunger games future is another matter.