Hidalgo, 64, is a contradiction of her own making. She has relentlessly pursued a radical agenda to transform the world’s most beautiful city into a bikeable, walkable, and soon swimmable paradise. And she has used the Olympics as a means to accelerate that challenge, driven by her belief that global warming will make the city uninhabitable within a quarter of a century unless drastic measures are taken. .
But rather than being a champion of her signature war on cars and carbon emissions, she projects an iron will that comes across as arrogant, tone-deaf, and self-righteous.
It’s her politics, and perhaps her sexism, that contribute to the hate she inspires. The problem is acute among contractors, taxi drivers, suburban residents and others who use the roads of Paris, a city of 2 million people, where fewer and fewer roads are open to cars and traffic jams. is occurring.
Broadly speaking, Hidalgo faces serious charges of destroying the poetic beauty of Paris. The city, which inspires veneration, is ruled by a mayor, who provokes widespread vitriol and gnashing of teeth among Parisians, some of whom are unjust, and who criticizes her and her additions to the cityscape. Dissatisfied with major changes.
Hidalgo was instrumental in bringing the Olympics to Paris, stamping them as her priority. The city’s new Adidas Arena will be topped with solar panels that convert the sun’s energy into electricity, and will feature environmentally friendly construction, including what officials call “virtuous bricks” made from locally sourced materials. Building materials are used.
The Paris Games are designed as a spectacle, even by Olympic standards. Previous opening ceremonies have been stadium events, but on July 26, the first day of the Paris Olympics, 10,000 athletes are scheduled to be carried on hundreds of barges down the Seine River for approximately 4 miles, until they reach the shore. was attended by hundreds of thousands of spectators.
It has been a luxury for years and can also be a security nightmare.
This would be a moment for Hidalgo, a reversal from his disastrous 2022 presidential campaign where he finished 10th with less than 2 percent of the vote. But how will the world view a mayor who sacrifices his popularity to protect his vision of a sustainable future?
“The fact is that if mayors in Europe and around the world can do it in Paris, they can do it in Paris,” she says.
The Olympics are expected to draw 15 million visitors, several times the number of regular summer tourists. Gorgeous as always, central Paris is now sparkling clean despite the usual piles of trash, bustling rat colonies, and dog poop-stained sidewalks. Notre-Dame Cathedral, which was nearly destroyed in a fire in 2019, is once again sparkling as its surprisingly fast reconstruction nears completion. The rebuilt spire is currently covered in scaffolding and is expected to be unveiled in time for the Olympics. And a major cleanup of the Seine is aimed at making it suitable for competitive open water swimming events and for the first time in a century downtown sea bathing.
Hidalgo’s vast expanses of brush were cleared to create hundreds of miles of new bike lanes and create pedestrian streets, plazas, and plazas. She promoted transit, planted trees, and embraced the “15-minute city” as a secular religion. The idea is that stores, schools, and cultural institutions should be within a 40-minute travel distance for anyone without having to rely on a car.
Her vision came at a price. This includes the city center and its adjoining areas, which are mainly populated by tourists and wealthy people, and the squeezed middle class that has spilled into the suburbs, where contempt for Hidalgo is rife. Paris’ population has fallen by more than 120,000 people over the past decade, but Hidalgo, who is always hard of hearing, hailed the drop in population density as a welcome one. Her antidote to the soaring cost of living, subsidies that cover about a quarter of the housing stock, are contributing to ballooning budget deficits and soaring local property taxes.
Loud Parisians are furious about the Olympics. Many people are planning to flee the city. Meanwhile, the mayor continues to ignore the message.
“For some people, politics is entertainment,” she says. “For me, it’s about policy. It’s about local politics and getting things done.”