Hard work provides people with a purpose and helps them overcome uncertainties, fear of failure, and bad habits. Nothing else produces greater results and growth consistently than hard work. Such kind of action and benefits stemming from hard work inspire further action among people. The actual key to success is dedication and hard effort. If an individual is not sure which route to go, then it can be a problem but can be solved with constant dedication toward the primary cause.
When hard work is discussed, hardworking individuals like Carlos Moreno come to mind. Carlos Moreno was born in Colombia in 1959 and migrated to France when he was 20 years old. He is an Associate Professor at IAE Sorbonne Business School, as well as the Scientific Director and co-founder of the ETI Chair (Entrepreneurship, Territory, Innovation). Carlos Moreno created the 15-minute city concept with an active social conscience and scientific knowledge for the benefit of people and the world. Moreno’s dedication to his work led him to win several awards. He was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor by the French Republic at an April 2010 ceremony at the Maison de la Recherche. The distinction was bestowed upon him by Jean Jacques Gagnepain, then-president of the Academy of Technologies. The WRI, based in Washington, D.C., has also picked Moreno’s concept of 15-Minute City as one of five nominees for the Ross Center 2022 Award for Cities.
He received the Academy of Architecture’s Prospective Medal in 2019. In 2021, he received the Henrik Frode Obel Foundation’s (Denmark) OBEL AWARD in Paris, as well as the Smart City Expo World Congress Leadership Award. He received the European Congress of Local Governments Award (in Poland) in 2022, as well as the FIABCI Global Pioneers Awards for Building Better Lives and the Spanish International Award for Innovation in Sustainable Mobility. On World Habitat Day, he received the UN-HABITAT “Scroll of Honour” for the global 15-minute city initiative.
The 15-minute city concept by Moreno is for people to reimagine and learn the most crucial aspect of life quality and the effective use of time. We live in fast-paced cities, where individuals must get up early to commute to work because they often live 2-3 hours away. Modern cities are places where individuals waste valuable time commuting. A 15-minute city is a new approach, a new paradigm for finding usable time, discovering local destinations, modifying public spaces, climate resilience, relocating jobs, decreasing emissions, and identifying economic activity. The concept is for making cities more dynamic places. Carlos Moreno is a visionary who has always provided a fresh perspective on these topics. His research positions him at the forefront of worldwide themes, with the development of the “Digital and Sustainable City,” in 2006. He also introduced “Smart City,” in 2010. Moreno then established the “Human Smart City” in 2012, and the “Living City” in 2014. He is a scientific advisor to high-level national and international officials, including Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
In November 2020, Moreno and Pritzker Prize director Martha Thorne co-signed the Manifesto to rally academics and innovators on climate and pandemic concerns impacting cities. Carlos Moreno has a background in mathematics and computer science, with a focus on robots and artificial intelligence. The professor was a proponent of “smart cities” and used computer science and mathematics to optimize city services and administration shortly after the internet revolution in 2000. However, as time passed and people became more conscious of climate change as the most serious threat to humanity, he altered his view. Cities are incomplete, flawed systems that are always evolving and hence vulnerable. Cities must be seen as complex systems to produce flexible solutions. This is how Moreno came up with the idea of a living city rather than a smart city.
Successful people are not more gifted. They just work hard and achieve their goals through their planning and effort. To become fully dedicated individuals, people must constantly change their lens to ensure that what they are working on is the most important thing they could be doing to reach their most important objective. Moreno’s work attempts to inspire change in people’s lifestyles and urban surroundings, as well as to provide solutions to problems faced by cities. Carlos Moreno serves us the example of such a person who has dedicated his life to the welfare of mankind and the well-being of the world.
