Paris takes step toward Car-free future with 500 new Pedestrian streets
Parisians have gone to the polls on Sunday and voted for pedestrianizing an additional 500 streets of the city, which added new fuel to campaigns by the French capital's left-leaning city hall aimed at reducing automobile use and clean up the city's air.
PARIS - Parisians went to the polls in a referendum on Sunday to make another 500 of the city's streets pedestrian-only, further fueling campaigns by the French capital's left-wing town hall to reduce the use of cars and clean up the air.
Impact on residents and businesses
Approximately 65.96% of Parisians supported the proposal, while 34.04% opposed it, official figures indicated. A mere 4.06% of the voters participated in the consultation, which was conducted by the municipality. This was the third Paris referendum in three years, after a 2023 referendum supported a prohibition on e-scooters, and a vote last year to increase parking fees for big SUVs by three times. The referendum will remove an additional 10,000 parking spaces in Paris, on top of the 10,000 taken away since 2020. The city's two million inhabitants will have their say on which streets will be pedestrianized.
A greener, walkable city
.Paris town hall statistics reveal that car traffic in the city has over doubled since the Socialists came to power in the capital at the beginning of the century. The 500 extra streets that will be pedestrianised will increase the number of such so-called "green lungs" to almost 700, slightly more than one-tenth of the capital's streets. Paris remains behind other European capitals when it comes to green infrastructure - which comprise private gardens, parks, tree-lined roads, water and wetlands - at 26% of city area compared with a European capitals average of 41%, reports the European Environment Agency.
