In this study, presented as a “collaborative tool, intended to measure the feelings of pedestrians and aimed at improving their quality of life in the urban landscape”gathered 42,400 complete questionnaires, in more than 4,600 French municipalities of all sizes. Nothing exhaustive, therefore, but enough to obtain a fairly precise inventory of the feelings of urban walkers about their towns and villages.
Still a fairly mediocre feeling: overall, the average national rating is 9.2/20. The collective “Place aux pedestrians” believes that it is still necessary “additional measures in all localities assessed to facilitate travel on foot”. Compared to the previous barometer, in 2021, “citizens still expect a lot in terms of developing safe pedestrian routes, securing sidewalks or even eliminating illegal parking in pedestrian areas”.
The barometer also classified 236 municipalities in particular, with grades from A+ to Gdepending on whether or not the municipality makes efforts to make life easier for pedestrians.
► Click here for our map of these municipalities in full screen
A rather dark picture
Only four of these 236 municipalities obtain the maximum grade (A+): Acigné (Ille-et-Vilaine), Coudekerque-Branche (North), Dainville (Pas-de-Calais) and Magny-les-Hameaux (Yvelines). And two received the worst grade: Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) and Villejuif (Val-de-Marne).
Among the departments with the most municipalities in this ranking, Ille-et-Vilaine is at the top, with 18 cities and villages praised, including the capital Rennes which obtains a rather positive grade: C. None of the municipalities in department listed has a grade lower than D.
On the regional side, it is Île-de-France which includes the most municipalities cited in the list, but more than half have bad grades (from D to G). By comparison, of the 33 communes of Brittany rated, more than half are considered “walkable”, classified from A+ to C. The French who participated in the ranking are also particularly harsh with Occitanie, Hauts-de-France, New Aquitaine or the Grand-Est, the vast majority of whose grades are quite poor.
More precisely, respondents widely denounce (70% of them) a lack of facilities ensuring the comfort of pedestrians, 69 % an absence of signage encouraging their movement. Around 58% believe that motor vehicle traffic is annoying, with 45% citing frequent conflicts between pedestrians and drivers, 43% conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists.
#list #cities #pleasant #walking
