The perception of street space by citizens. An analysis of Paris Neighbourhood councils' meetings : An analysis of Paris neighbourhood councils meetings

International audienceThis paper presents the results of an analysis we have conducted of meetings of Paris neighbourhood councils (conseils de quartier) - local, non-decision-making bodies bringing together randomly selected or appointed members two or three times a year. We focused on the discussions that took place in relation to the uses and functions of street space. Citizens' concerns address many different uses of street space, underscoring the fact that transport and mobility are but one component of public space. Our analysis aims at assessing whether, by formulating problems or expressing needs about street space in a global and transversal way, citizens make a valuable contribution to the more specialized approaches to transport developed by municipal technical services.<br />This analysis of local concertation highlights four main results.<br />The first concerns all of the concrete and practical benefits of local concertation: the contributions that lead participants to formulate their expectations and listen to contradictory viewpoints from other users; information given or requested for projects in progress, the choice of the agenda for other meetings; direct contact with the technical services or district.<br />The second point relates to the effects highlighted by concertation, namely the emergence of new problems not addressed on a political level, exacerbated by a particularly high degree of fragmentation in technical and institutional responsibilities. The most telling example is probably that of speed regulation. Without getting into the question of the representativeness of the contributions on this subject, we would simply stress that the manner in which the problem is presented is an explicit challenge to the 'segregative' principles that continue to dominate Parisian street planning projects and methods.<br />The third point concerns the influence of the neighbourhood council in the local political landscape.<br />Lastly, the fourth point is specific to the theme of deliveries and the transport of goods. We have felt the need - as expressed by municipal technicians and sometimes by district councillors - to develop a global and sometimes experimental approach to the transport of goods and urban logistics