In a referendum held on Sunday, the 23rd of March, Parisians voted in favour of making 500 more city streets pedestrian (car-free), giving new momentum to efforts by the French capital’s city council to curb car use and improve air quality, reports Reuters.
65.96% of Parisians voted in favour of the measure, while 34.04% rejected it, according to official results. Only 4.06% of voters took part in a poll organised by the municipality.
This was the third similar referendum in Paris in recent years – in 2023 there was a vote to ban e-scooters, and last year a decision was taken to triple parking charges for large cars.
This referendum will eliminate another 10 000 parking spaces in Paris, on top of the 10 000 parking spaces already eliminated since 2020.
THE CITY’S TWO MILLION RESIDENTS WILL BE CONSULTED ON WHICH STREETS SHOULD BECOME PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY.
According to data from the Paris city authorities, car traffic has more than halved since 2000, when the Socialists began to rule the city.
With these 500 streets, the total number of these so-called “green lungs” – pedestrian-friendly streets – will reach almost 700. This means that just over a tenth of Paris’ streets will be car-free.
Despite the recent changes, Paris lags behind other European capitals in terms of green infrastructure (which includes private gardens, parks, tree-lined streets, waterways and wetlands), which accounts for only 26% of the city’s territory compared to an average of 41% for European capitals, according to the European Environment Agency.