Willkommen in Paris, der Stadt, die Nein zu Autos sagte

*Outgoing Mayor Anne Hidalgo championed a car-free agenda, leaving Paris greener, cleaner and better for walking and biking. Take a journey through the city to see how it’s changed.*

*Marie Patino, Feargus O’Sullivan, Tom Février for Bloomberg News*

Honking horns and screeching tires used to be a cliched scene-setting device for writers describing Paris. Those sounds no longer define a city where cars have taken a back seat. Visitors will discover that it’s a dramatically different place than a decade ago: lines of bikes and throngs of pedestrians where lanes were once jammed with cars, greenery encroaching on former pavement, summer swimming in the once-grimy Seine river — and a corresponding drop in air and water pollution.

The shift is the result of a spate of policies under outgoing Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo intended to make the city more walkable and bikeable while reducing emissions. Internationally, Hidalgo has become one of the best-known promoters of green urban change.

Locally, this transformation has been more controversial, especially among her political opponents and suburbanites who have criticized her for penalizing drivers. Her embrace of the 15-minute city — a planning concept intended to spread amenities more evenly throughout the city and reduce the need for daily driving — has even gotten her embroiled in recent conspiracy theories.

Hidalgo was not alone in pursuing such changes. Other French cities have seen more bikes and fewer cars, while some of Paris’ global big-city peers are pursuing ambitious tree-planting efforts or pedestrian plazas. What’s most remarkable is the sheer volume of aggressive new policies Hidalgo has managed to push through.

[A journey from Paris’ city center to one of its newest suburban developments shows how the region has changed. Read the full story here.](https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2026-paris-transformed-hidalgo/?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc3NDAyMTUyMywiZXhwIjoxNzc0NjI2MzIzLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUQzZMV0dLR0lGUEgwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJEMzU0MUJFQjhBQUY0QkUwQkFBOUQzNkI3QjlCRjI4OCJ9.ssk5sx57DDGM06D-ZaSXo68E7OFKo4ERu0rkBR7cmoA)

If Paris is saying no to cars, I would say the bar to say no is pretty low.

Paris genuinely got much nicer in the past 10 years. I love that city.

Yes, that one european city that has transitioned away from letting driving in the city center being convenient.

We went to Paris in november last year and I planned to have a run along the Seine banks. Incredible how much nicer the city centre has become. I remember as a child that the whole city was just honking, foul smelling cars the whole day. Running along the banks, watching the Notre Dame, passing along the Louvre and seeing everyone enjoying their morning run was one of my favourite things about the holiday. 

It would be insanity to give those banks back to the cars and I fully expect a right wint mayor to do it.