Happy Pedestrians: Capital City Slows Down Its Streets

In an effort to make the capital of France greener, safer and healthier, the Mayor of Paris has decided to reduce the speed limit across the city to 30 km/h.

Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a series of progressive measures to turn Paris into a greener host for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The number of parking spots have been cut in half, while bike lanes have increased. In an effort to render the city more pedestrian friendly, vehicles will be banned from the centre next year.

According to a recent poll, 59% of Parisians are in favor of the speed reduction as two-thirds of the city is already subjected to it. A few major arteries will be exempted from the speed limit, including the Champs Élysées (50 km/h) and the Boulevard Périphérique (70 km/h). In France, Grenoble and Lille have already implanted such measures, as have Bilbao in Spain and Brussels in Belgium.