Paris is set on becoming a 15 minute city, where residents can find most of what they need within a short bike ride or walk from their homes. This challenge is now being taken up by the C40 Cities—a network of 90 cities who have pledged to rid their streets from cars in order to lower emissions.
Parisian Mayor Anne Hidalgo headed this pledge in her reelection campaign, promising to reclaim Paris from cars. Finally an actual plan is on the horizon that would reduce the city of love’s 140,000 parking spots to 70,000 by 2025, replacing the reclaimed area with greenery to help lower CO2 emissions.
“We can no longer use 50 percent of the capital for cars when they represent only 13 percent of people’s journeys, we want to make the air more breathable and give public space to Parisians who often live in cramped flats.”—Belliard, the city’s deputy mayor of transport said this week.
We love this idea. A city returning to its citizens, where parking lots turn into trees, and people bike to work, instead of paying for a cycling class. The future is here, and hopefully more cities will take similar initiatives.
