France
While TGV Flies, French Rail Safety Slides
The derailment of an intercity train south of Paris last week is drawing attention to France's two-tiered rail system. While high-speed trains are celebrated and expanded, local lines suffer from underinvestment and neglect.
'Best Square' in Paris Returned to the People
Over the weekend, the $30 million revamp of Paris's iconic Place de la République opened to the public. By transforming the square from a place for cars into a place for people, Mayor Bertrand Delanoe has earned a distinguished "anti-car" label.
Paris Develops for the 21st Century, Along its Periphery
After more than a decade of planning, the ambitious Clichy Batignolles project is rising in northwest Paris. The development is an attempt to stay competitive in the global marketplace, without compromising the city's world-renowned charms.
Banlieues Now Seen as Bastions of Innovation
After years of neglect, periodic riots, and unfulfilled promises from the state, Paris's low-income suburbs are finally doing for themselves what had long been promised to them - creating opportunities for economic development and social integration.
Culture Influences Pedestrian Behavior at Crosswalks, Study Says
The results of a recent study of pedestrian road crossing behavior suggests that the risks we take as walkers depend largely on our cultural context.
Paris's Ring Road Turns 40, Is There Any Reason to Celebrate?
Paris's Boulevard Peripherique is one of the most clogged roadways in Europe, it delivers dangerous pollution to 100,000 people in its vicinity, and this year it turned 40. Lara Marlowe looks at the future for one of Paris's little loved landscapes.
New Pavilion Reflects Marseille's Revitalization
A sleek new pavilion made of reflective stainless steel, designed by Foster + Partners, is helping to reshape the image of France's rough-and-tumble port city as a destination.
Hollande Embraces Greater Paris Plan
To the surprise of many, a change in governments has failed to derail former president Nicolas Sarkozy's ambitious "Greater Paris" plan for an expanded transit network linking the French capital to its suburbs.
How Would Free Transit Fare in the U.S.?
Jake Blumgart compares free transit in Europe with case studies in the U.S.
France Pioneers Low-Cost High-Speed Rail
Taking a page out of the book of budget airlines such as Ryanair, France's SNCF is introducing OuiGo - a hyper low-cost high-speed rail option that aims to convert suburban drivers into train riders.
Sustainability Over Tradition as Paris Turns Out the Lights
France's Environment Ministry has decreed that as of July, all shops and offices in the country will be required to shut off their lights at night in order to save energy and “reduce the print of artificial lighting on the nocturnal environment.”
In France, a Road Paved With Good Intentions
Clare Foran unravels the relationship between misguided '70s-era planning efforts and ongoing racial tension in France.
New Parisian Bridge Will Have Pedestrians Flirting With a Plunge
A new pedestrian bridge planned for Paris plays with the idea of stability by inducing a "perilous flirt with the Seine," reports Mark Wilson.
Beneath Paris, Sights to Rival Those Found Above
Will Hunt explores Paris beneath the surface during a 14-mile trek underground with a group of urban explorers, and finds subterranean sights to rival those found on the famous streets above.
A Cable Car Comeback
Sophie Landrin looks at the global rise in the use of cable cars - the kind you find on a ski lift and not on the streets of San Francisco - as a transportation alternative. Several French cities are developing plans to become "wired".
Saving a Transit System Through Free Rides
Jean-Francois Mayet, the mayor of Châteauroux, introduced free ridership in a bid to turn around his town's failing transit system. Eleven years later, total ridership has increased 208 percent. Henry Grabar examines whether free transit is scalable.
America's Cultural Invasion of the Champs-Elysees
When the next iteration of the oldest military parade in the world celebrates the French Republic by marching down the Champs-Elysees, as it invariably does every Bastille Day, it will pass through what is increasingly becoming an American mall.
Design Competition for Bordeaux Puts Nature First
As the city of Bordeaux, France, makes plans to move up the list of major European cities, it's calling on a multidisciplinary design competition for ways to revitalize its city from the top down by integrating "natural areas."
Paris to the People
Angelique Chrisafis delivers the fantastic news that, after more than four decades of auto dominance, Paris is returning its riverfront to its people in a "pedestrian 'reconquest' of the banks of the Seine."
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