The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has introduced a ban on through traffic from the historic city centre to cut pollution and congestion.
The French capital's police chief said the new rules will be enforced with a light touch, but cars and other motorised vehicles can no longer go into the city's first, second, third and fourth districts – or arrondissements – unless they have business there.
The new ban covers an area of 5.5 square kilometres that includes the Louvre Museum, the Place Vendome, the Tuileries Garden and the Marais neighbourhood, as well as many cultural venues and shopping areas.
Ms Hidalgo has long sought to limit car traffic in favour of less polluting means of transport, notably bicycles. Over the past decade, Paris has turned several areas previously dominated by cars over to cyclists and pedestrians, including stretches of the banks of the river Seine.
Much of the busy Place de la Concorde is set to be next, and the Pont d'Iéna bridge near the Eiffel Tower has not reopened to traffic since the Olympics. Ms Hidalgo promised the transit ban during her 2020 re-election campaign for mayor, but its implementation was postponed several times.
Other European cities including Rome, Milan and Madrid have taken similar measures. The Paris mayor's office said its own traffic limitation scheme was "one of the most ambitious" on the continent.
The new through-traffic rules require drivers to carry proof that they have a reason for being there and are not just "using the centre of Paris as a shortcut", said Ariel Weil, mayor of central Paris. People who live or work in the area have free access, as do buses, taxis, emergency services and disabled drivers.
Anyone else who can show that they are "stopping there" for a doctor's visit or to make a delivery can pass, too. Going to the cinema or the theatre are also acceptable reasons to drive into the area. Paris officials have said there will be no fines for the first six months to allow drivers to get accustomed to the new rules.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez, who rarely sees eye to eye with city hall on the question of car traffic, promised to ensure that there would be "as few constraints as possible" for motorists. He told Le Parisien newspaper that measures such as online registration, which was used to enforce traffic restrictions during the Paris Olympics this summer, "is not what I favour".
Deputy mayor for transport David Belliard, a member of France's Green Party, said the city is still working out how exactly the new rules would be enforced, and would establish a list of accepted documents in collaboration with police. Motorists themselves appeared unsure about the new rules.
"We're not happy with this ban," said the driver of a delivery van stopped by a police officer on Monday before being told that he could pass as "you're working", as she handed him an explanatory leaflet. "I hope my residential parking sticker will be enough," said a psychologist who rides her scooter through the zone each day.
Officials say they expect a noticeable improvement in terms of air and noise pollution from the measure, especially for the 110,000 residents of the four districts. Major thoroughfares such as the Avenue de l'Opera, which runs from the old opera house to the Palais Royal, could have their car traffic cut by a third.
Critics say the new rules will simply shift transit traffic to adjacent neighbourhoods such as the city's Left Bank, which is not covered by the ban. "It's going to be an almighty mess," said Aurelien Veron, spokesman for the Changer Paris (Change Paris) opposition group in the Paris municipal council.
But officials said projections showed that any additional traffic in neighbouring areas would be "extremely limited". Some shop owners, meanwhile, said they feared that traffic restrictions could hurt business.
"If city hall wants to kill local shops this is the way to do it," said Patrick Aboukrat, regional president of France's national clothes manufacturing association. He told the Echommerces trade magazine that shop owners would challenge the new transit rules in court.
BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP
Group A
Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA
Group B
Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti
Group C
Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia
Group D
Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Where to buy art books in the UAE
There are a number of speciality art bookshops in the UAE.
In Dubai, The Lighthouse at Dubai Design District has a wonderfully curated selection of art and design books. Alserkal Avenue runs a pop-up shop at their A4 space, and host the art-book fair Fully Booked during Art Week in March. The Third Line, also in Alserkal Avenue, has a strong book-publishing arm and sells copies at its gallery. Kinokuniya, at Dubai Mall, has some good offerings within its broad selection, and you never know what you will find at the House of Prose in Jumeirah. Finally, all of Gulf Photo Plus’s photo books are available for sale at their show.
In Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi has a beautiful selection of catalogues and art books, and Magrudy’s – across the Emirates, but particularly at their NYU Abu Dhabi site – has a great selection in art, fiction and cultural theory.
In Sharjah, the Sharjah Art Museum sells catalogues and art books at its museum shop, and the Sharjah Art Foundation has a bookshop that offers reads on art, theory and cultural history.
EGYPT SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ahmed El Shennawy, Mohamed El Shennawy, Mohamed Abou-Gabal, Mahmoud Abdel Rehem "Genesh"
Defenders: Ahmed Elmohamady, Ahmed Hegazi, Omar Gaber, Ali Gazal, Ayman Ahsraf, Mahmoud Hamdy, Baher Elmohamady, Ahmed Ayman Mansour, Mahmoud Alaa, Ahmed Abou-Elfotouh
Midfielders: Walid Soliman, Abdallah El Said, Mohamed Elneny, Tarek Hamed, Mahmoud “Trezeguet” Hassan, Amr Warda, Nabil Emad
Forwards: Ahmed Ali, Mohamed Salah, Marwan Mohsen, Ahmed "Kouka" Hassan.
Types of bank fraud
1) Phishing
Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
2) Smishing
The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
3) Vishing
The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
4) SIM swap
Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
5) Identity theft
Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
6) Prize scams
Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
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Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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Racecard
6.35pm: American Business Council – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.10pm: British Business Group – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,200m
7.45pm: CCI France UAE – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m
8.20pm: Czech Business Council – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,400m
8.55pm: Netherlands Business Council – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m
9.30pm: Indian Business and Professional Council – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,200m
