Can the "Beauty Manifesto" from a romantic capital to a junkyard change Paris?

[Compiled by Liu Tao, European Times, January 19] Garbage is everywhere, and can be seen everywhere, which has greatly reduced the reputation of Paris, the world-renowned romantic capital. On social media, a topic called "#垃圾场巴黎" (#sacageparis) sparked a heated discussion and attracted Parisians to post pictures showing the dirty corners of the city. Stimulated by this, the Paris government is taking steps, including the latest "Declaration of Beauty", to give the people a cleaner Paris.

The British newspaper The Guardian reported. In the first half of 2021, a topic called "#垃圾场巴黎" was on social media for a while. Under this topic, Parisians have uploaded photos showing littering on the streets, rotten recliners, abandoned motorcycles, and dirty flower beds and lawns.

The anger of the citizens is directed at the Paris City Hall, saying that it does not value or even destroy Paris's unique architectural heritage, including streetscapes dating back to the reign of Napoleon III in the mid-19th century.

This emphasis on the ugliness and filth of Paris has made Parisian officials feel "Alexander." Although the paris mayor's office initially denounced such activities as a "smear", action was taken. In the second half of last year, the city hall introduced a series of measures aimed at improving the appearance of the city.

Emmanuel Grégoire, deputy mayor of Paris, admitted on the 18th that the above topic "forced us to question ourselves and react appropriately", but he added that some photos exaggerated the extent of the problem.

Recently, the Paris municipality issued a "Declaration of Beauty", which includes a series of plans to beautify the city. Gregor said several recent initiatives would be canceled, one of which involved allowing Parisians to plant gardens in public spaces.

Under a plan in 2015, Parisians could simply apply for a permit to plant flowers under trees on the street. However, the street gardens planted by amateurs end up as ugly places of garbage and. Gregor also acknowledged that the gardens were "not aesthetically satisfactory" and posed "serious maintenance difficulties".

For the governance of the urban environment in the future, Gregor promised that the government will adopt a zero-tolerance approach to dumping garbage in public places, and will increase the crackdown on small street advertisements and illegal posters.

In addition, according to previous commitments, the temporary yellow signs that are not very aesthetically pleasing on the new bike lanes will also be removed, and the concrete barricades on the streets will also be replaced by more aesthetically pleasing styles.

It is reported that the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, is running for the presidency as a Candidate for the Socialist Party, and wooing voters is one of the focuses of his current work. Currently, her approval rating is around 3%.

(Editor: Liu Tao)