23.9.19

No cars, no motorbikes...


There are Sundays, when some central Paris streets are supposed to be open to pedestrians only. There are a few Sundays, when the whole of Paris is closed for cars, motorbikes, scooters… This was the case last Sunday (yesterday), a date of course chosen to coincide with the UN Climate Action Summit today (Sept. 23), preceded by the Youth Climate Summit.

We should perhaps know that less than 1/3 of the Paris households now own a car and that this is a continuing tendency. There is an aim, by the present mayor, that in 2030 no petrol driven vehicles will be allowed inside the Paris limits.  

Well, for the moment, on this specific day, taxis, buses, bikes, roller-skates… are allowed.


2 comments:

Mystica said...

It is a step forward. I wonder whether Asia will ever adopt these practices.

MadAboutParis said...

In the 1950's, American architect Louis Kahn had an unusual vision for Philadelphia.

https://www.moma.org/collection/works/488

"Kahn's specific comparison was to the largely medieval town of Carcassonne, in the South of France: just as Carcassonne was a city built for defense, Kahn envisioned the modern city center having to defend itself against the automobile."

IMHO - Kahn was a very unusual man. I was thrilled when I discovered that his son produced this documentary: http://www.myarchitectfilm.com/