Paris residents vote in favour of making 500 more streets pedestrian-only

PARIS – Parisians voted in a referendum on March 23 to pedestrianise a further 500 of the city’s streets, giving fresh momentum to efforts by the French capital’s left-leaning town hall to curb car usage and improve air quality.

Some 65.96 per cent of Parisian voters were in favour of the measure, while 34.04 per cent rejected it, official results showed. Only 4.06 per cent of voters turned out in the consultation, which was organised by the municipality.

This was the third such referendum in Paris in as many years, following a 2023 vote that approved a ban on e-scooters, and a decision in 2024 to triple parking charges for large sport utility vehicles.

The referendum will eliminate 10,000 more parking spots in Paris, adding to the 10,000 removed since 2020. The city’s two million residents will be consulted on which streets will become pedestrian-only areas.

Paris town hall data shows car traffic in the city has more than halved since the Socialists took power in the capital at the turn of the century.

The 500 additional streets to be pedestrianised will bring the total number of these so-called “green lungs” to nearly 700, just over a 10th of the capital’s streets.

Despite recent changes, Paris lags other European capitals in terms of green infrastructure – which include private gardens, parks, tree-lined streets, water and wetlands – making up only 26 per cent of the city area versus a European capital’s average of 41 per cent, according to the European Environment Agency. REUTERS