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Soon, hundreds of new green streets in Paris!

undefined undefined 24 mars 2025 undefined 13h00

The Editor

© E Mens / Unsplash

This Sunday, March 23rd, a new citizen vote took place. After electric scooters and SUVs, the residents of the capital could this time share their opinions on the creation of over 500 green streets. And, unsurprisingly, the yes vote won!

For many, it was a vote that felt a bit unnecessary. This weekend, Parisians aged 16 and up (a little revolution!) were invited to express their opinions on transforming numerous areas of the capital. The proposal included pedestrianizing streets, particularly by removing parking spaces, as well as increasing the number of trees and plants to achieve a massive greening. In short, these were all projects to continue defending the planet and the quality of life in the capital. So, it’s no surprise that 66% of voters expressed support for the project.


A Disappointing Turnout

Even though we’re excited about the prospect of enjoying a greener city soon, we still want to point out that we’re a bit disappointed.

There is a lack of investment from Parisians. Indeed, by the end of this voting day, the figures are a bit alarming. Only 3.89% of registered voters made the trip to the polls to vote for or against the project. A record of lack of engagement that, according to the opposition, wonderfully illustrates the uselessness of this vote, which failed to spark interest given the inevitable outcome.

Just a reminder, the first two citizen votes, while not creating any huge crowds, did achieve a bit more success, likely because they involved somewhat more controversial topics. 7.5% of registered voters took the time to oppose the electric scooters – and we thank them warmly for that – and 5.7% voted against SUVs, with a fairly close vote as the "yes" side won by just 54%. This time around, at least, the gap has widened a bit, with 66% in favor. However, this is still considered relatively low given the project at hand.


3 districts still too attached to their cars

As we know, making Paris a city that is cooler, greener, and more enjoyable, with fewer cars, has become a pressing issue for our dear mayor and her elected officials. And while we don’t always agree with her, in this case, we can only applaud the initiative. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for everyone, especially in the districts where the car still reigns supreme. This Sunday, in three of them, the opposition won out: the 7th, the 8th, and the 16th. Not a big surprise, as these areas have been the most resistant to the increase in parking prices for SUVs.

Fortunately, it takes more than that to slow down Anne Hidalgo's projects, and thanks to the support of 66% of voters, these new streets should soon come to life. On the agenda: the removal of 10,000 parking spaces to give space back to pedestrians and cyclists. This transformation will also include a lot more greenery to brighten everything up a bit. For now, the names of the affected streets haven't been revealed yet, but the district councils should start working on it from today, to unveil the 6 to 8 targeted streets in each neighborhood of Paris.