Since 2011, about 40 smart city projects have been implemented in Paris, including interactive bus shelters, electronic real-time information bulletin boards, and illuminated traffic safety columns (Hidalgo, 2015). All of these projects emphasize citizen participation and joint innovation, and are open to public bidding. These measures are scattered across more than 60 locations in the Paris region, where Paris citizens can experience the services of future smart cities. The City of Paris considers smart cities to be sustainable cities and cities that make effective use of their resources. In February 2013, France launched a world-class digital program of smart community projects in Paris and in the suburbs of Paris and beyond.

France is one of the earliest and most successful countries in the world to promote and apply pure electric vehicles. Paris has established a relatively complete infrastructure of over 800 EV charging stations, and has developed preferential policies and incentives for the use of electric vehicles. In February 2013, Paris began to promote smart bus kiosks, so that people waiting for cars no longer suffer. JCDecaux, which is responsible for the construction and management of the Paris bus pavilion, first installed a bus shelter at the St. Anthony intersection (JCDecaux, 2016). Through the pavilion display, passengers or passers-by can use more than ten kinds of smart services including public information, news website, and charging mobile phones.

Since July 2007, Paris has launched a smart bicycle self-service rental service “Velib” from the government level. Bicycles have become the third largest public transportation in Paris except subways, buses and private cars (Hidalgo, 2015). Each bicycle station has dozens of bicycles. Each bicycle is fixed in the parking space by an electronic lock. At the same time, there is an intelligent management column for everyone to borrow and return the vehicle by a simple swipe of the card. The system is intelligent and fully automated, can be operated around the clock, and is leased to the public for free within 30 minutes’ use.

In July 2015, in response to new challenges such as energy conversion and sustainable development, Paris published a report on the environment-friendly future “Paris Smart and Sustainable: Looking Ahead To 2020 and Beyond”. The report defines the elements of a “smart” city in the 21st century and outlines the steps required to achieve this goal in Paris (Hidalgo, 2015). This report aims to create a common vision for mobilizing energy, creativity and innovation for all residents who believe in sustainable, low-emission cities. Recently, the large public bicycle sharing system Vélib and the electric car sharing service Autolib have already been internationally recognized and emulated.

References

Hidalgo, A. (2015). Paris Smart and Sustainable: Looking Ahead To 2020 and Beyond. Retrieved from: https://api-site-cdn.paris.fr/images/99354

JCDecaux. (2016). Paris unveils its new service oriented bus shelters The Paris City Council installs 2,000 new-generation bus shelters with JCDecaux. Retrieved from: https://www.jcdecaux.com/sites/default/files/assets/document/2016/07/pr-jcdecauxparis-unveils-its-new-bus-shelterpdf.pdf