The City of Love has stolen the hearts of people across the world, but what makes it so great? From biking down the Seine to riding the metro everywhere and anywhere, Paris is an urban planner’s paradise that’s only getting better. On the other hand, the City of Brotherly Love could use some work.
Prior to the 2024 Olympics, Paris worked to clean up the Seine in order to allow triathletes to swim in the iconic river. However, the true intent of the project was to clean up the river permanently so Parisian residents could swim thereafter. Behind this project was Parisian mayor Anne Hidalgo, who has held office since 2014, is loved by many, and utterly despised by more. Keeping up with the French custom of hating everything, especially ideas that diverge from the French status quo, Hidalgo has found local support to be few and far between.
However, during her mayorship, Hidalgo has made incredible efforts to improve the city’s urban landscape. She built La Promenade to expand green space in the city (an idea New York City borrowed for its High Line) and developed car–free streets to create a more pedestrian–friendly environment in Paris. NYC has learned a lot from her recent projects, but as of late, it’s becoming more and more clear that Philly needs to take notes as well.
The approaching 2026 World Cup and Philadelphia 250 act like the Olympics did for Paris—they’re pushing us to make long–overdue urban developments to make our city better for both 2026 and the future. It's time we take a look across the water to Paris and set our eyes on how Hidalgo has improved the snob–capital of the world, while simultaneously learning lessons from the faults she’s made along the way.
In recent years, Philadelphians have worked tirelessly to make our streets safer for their most vulnerable users, committing to Vision Zero, a city–plan under former mayor Jim Kenney to have zero biker and pedestrian deaths by 2030. However, as of May this year, current Philly mayor Cherelle Parker has cut Vision Zero’s six–year budget from $15 to $9 million—despite local urbanists protesting to increase the original budget. Over the last few months, biker deaths have been in the news far more often, with many occurring throughout Center City—like the recent death of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia doctor Barbara Friedes near Rittenhouse Square. Protests have sparked across the city this summer, with bikers riding through Center City chanting for safer streets.
Towards the beginning of her mayoral career, Hidalgo proposed to make Paris as bicycle friendly as possible, committing to "100% cyclable" by 2024. She has worked to make Paris a more sustainable city, with the vast majority of her developments being centered around car–reduction and increasing green space for a cleaner environment—successfully reducing carbon emissions by 40% since she was elected.
In 2016, Hidalgo closed the major road that ran along the Seine, the primary river in Paris, in hopes of creating a safe area for pedestrians and cyclists to traverse the city. She has paved the way for “school streets,” in which over 300 streets are being made pedestrian and cyclist friendly so that families feel safe sending their children to and from school. As of this year, Hidalgo has already closed over 100 streets across the city to cars and built 1300 km of bike lanes, trying to prioritize the safety of the most at–risk users of Parisian streets. These initiatives have proved incredibly successful in bringing the city toward the status of a cyclist haven.
Last month, Philly tested the idea of having car–free streets every Sunday in the Rittenhouse area—which, in an ironic connection, is nicknamed the French Quarter. The event brought people from all over the city to enjoy walking aimlessly down Walnut Street, picking up fresh fruits from local vendors, and watching their kids play safely in a street notorious for accidents. This was a revival of the Philly Free Streets program—shut down by COVID–19—which created temporary car–free areas for people to walk, bike, and relish in what the city has to offer. The last time they ran an event, people from 42 out of 48 Philly districts participated. The paralleled successes of Hidalgo’s car–free streets and Philly’s car–free Sundays in Rittenhouse should serve as an example for Parker—a fellow mayor of a major city.
What the people want is clear—what isn’t clear, however, is if Parker cares enough to listen. In recent months, many of her proposals have opposed the wants and needs of Philadelphians—especially criticisms of the Philadelphia Sixers’ proposal to build an arena in Center City.
However, this is fairly on–brand for Philadelphia’s urban planning history, which has historically marginalized lower–class populations of color. For example, the originally planned subway meant to run under Roosevelt Boulevard was abandoned despite the need for lower–class workers to have an easier commute to and from work downtown. This decision led to a sustained isolation of Northeast Philadelphians from the greater Philadelphia area. However, the city built the Regional Rail, providing white suburbanites with a direct and easier journey to Center City than Philly locals in the Northeast.
Marginalizing poorer communities while pursuing urban developments for more privileged populations isn’t unique to Philly. Hidalgo has had her share of planning setbacks too, including her Seine project. The project is well celebrated by wealthier young Parisians who have the time and leisure to bike to work. Nonetheless, Hidalgo has systematically ignored the impoverished populations of the Parisian banlieue, or suburbs, who relied on the road to commute to work each day. Mayor Sylvain Berrios of Saint–Maur–des–Fossés, an impoverished Parisian suburb, and Vice President of the Grand–Paris metropolis, took incredible issue with the plan as Hidalgo failed to speak with him or any of the other mayors on how this would affect Grand–Paris.
Hidalgo's mayoral blunders show that no city’s urban planning is perfect, and that at times vulnerable populations like pedestrians and cyclists can overshadow the far more at–risk ones. However, there is still an incredible amount of virtue toward making our streets safer like Hidalgo has done for Paris. And so, I propose we begin to learn from Hidalgo’s sustainable development and fully commit to our Vision Zero plan to protect our city cyclists and Main Line commuters.
But this can’t be the only step we take. We need to look in on ourselves to solve the many other pressing problems within Philly’s urban landscape—from correcting our past wrongs to maintaining safety and security in our communities. Philadelphia has much to do before 2026, and we need to start now.
