More Trees, Fewer Cars for the Central Squares of Paris

Last year, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo promised to makeover seven major Parisian squares. This March, following a public consultation, Paris City Hall came up with the goods, providing detailed plans that will transform these famous, beautiful spaces in the period between now and 2020.

Looking at the details, it seems the city’s ambitions haven’t so far been diluted. Each square will be semi-pedestrianized—literally so, as a mandatory 50 percent of each square’s surface area will be given over to pedestrians. This means slicing away large sections of space currently allotted to cars, abolishing some lanes and slowing traffic in others. In each square, road vehicles will be restricted to lanes with a maximum width of 12 meters (39 feet), with the rest ceded to pedestrians and cyclists.