Why Paris is showing London how to build streets for children
May 21, 2025
If you want a glimpse of what a child-friendly city could – and should – look like, look no further than Paris. Once infamous for its gridlocked boulevards, the French capital is now setting the gold standard for safe, walkable, and cyclable streets for children. And for cities like London, still wading through half-measures and culture wars over LTNs, the message is clear: The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.
A new ranking published this week by the Clean Cities Campaign places Paris at the very top of a list of 36 European cities assessed for how easy and safe they make it for children to get around under their own steam. Think school streets, protected cycle lanes, and 30km/h speed limits – the building blocks of freedom and safety for the youngest (and oldest) among us.
Let's hear it for Bristol, which achieved avery respectable eighth place. London, despite boasting more school streets than any other city in the study – 525 near primary schools – came in 14th overall. It’s a respectable showing, but still one that should prompt some soul-searching. Because if London, with its resources, its ambition, and its sheer number of progressive voices, can't crack this, who can?
So what’s Paris doing right?
For starters, it’s stitched a web of protected cycle lanes across nearly half its road network. That’s 48% of roads offering safe passage for people on bikes – young and old. London’s cycling routes remain patchy and too often unprotected. It’s not for lack of demand: We know that separated cycleways are key to getting children – and their parents – onto bikes. But it takes courage, and in Paris, Mayor Anne Hidalgo has had it in spades.
Second, the city has brought in 30km/h speed limits on 89% of its streets – not as a token gesture, but as a wholesale rethink of who the city is for. Lower speeds mean fewer crashes and less deadly outcomes when they do happen. It’s what the World Health Organisation calls a “no regrets” policy.
And then there are school streets – those blessed little oases of calm where kids can walk, cycle or scoot to school without the drama of car chaos at the gates. Paris has fewer than London, but it’s catching up fast. And unlike many UK versions, often active only during school drop-off and pick-up, Paris is exploring permanent pedestrianisation.
Cities of contrast
Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels and Helsinki all scored highly in the Clean Cities ranking – no surprise there. But what’s most interesting is that a few years ago, Paris wasn’t even in the running. Its transformation is recent, rapid, and utterly instructive.
Meanwhile, cities like Rome, Madrid, and Florence flounder at the bottom of the table – undone by weak local powers, car-centric culture, and political pushback. It turns out national policy matters less than local will. Even cities within the same country see wildly different outcomes. Italy’s Bologna ranks mid-table despite resistance to change, while Florence lags far behind.
London’s own struggle is more psychological than logistical. The infrastructure is coming – slowly. But years of political ping-pong, hyperbolic tabloid headlines, and opposition from vocal minorities have left decision-makers timid and progress piecemeal.
Let’s be honest: Walking through central Paris today feels very different to ten years ago. Where there were once rivers of honking traffic, there are now green corridors, calm crossings, and children scooting along riverside promenades. There are trees. There is shade. There is, quite literally, room to breathe.
It’s not perfect – Paris still needs more school streets to clinch a top grade in the Clean Cities index – but it’s proof that transformation is not only possible, but achievable within a political cycle or two. It just takes vision, investment, and the guts to ride out the backlash.
London, on the other hand, often feels like a city waiting for permission. Its progress is real but fragile, and far too dependent on individual boroughs having the political will to stand firm in the face of online petitions and talk radio fury.
As Barbara Stoll from Clean Cities put it: “Taking a walk through Paris today is a breath of fresh air compared to 10 years ago. It takes vision, leadership and sustained investment, but most cities can and should make similar progress.”
So here’s the challenge to London and cities across Britain: Follow Paris. Not with hesitant half-measures, but with ambition. Make it easy for children to walk and cycle. Make it safe. Make it fun. And do it now.
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