The perception of street space by citizens.

The results of an analysis of meetings of district councils (conseils de quartiers) in Paris are presented. There are 121 district councils in Paris, whose members are either appointed by local mayors or drawn among volunteers. These councils meet between two and four times a year to discuss local issues on housing, transport, planning and in general any kind of local policy. District councils express non-binding wishes to the city's central and local levels of administration. The minutes of three years of meetings from the 15th arrondissement of Paris were examined and cross analysedin order to underline the different categories of public concerns over street space. A specific focus was made on freight transport and delivery issues, which have gained importance within the City of Paris' transport andplanning policies in recent years. An important share of the discussions in district council meetings is devoted to street space uses. These discussions relate to a great variety of issues (traffic, parking, street use conflicts, accessibility, pollution, quality of life, deliveries, etc.). Theconfrontation of different stakeholders brings out three main types of discourses. Residents' positions regarding street spaces are based on all their local daily practices, not - or not only - their transport needs. Technical staff or transport users' associations remain focused on network management approaches. Elected officials remain focused on political concerns over transport policy orientations or the jurisdiction and powers between local mayors and the central administration. Several factors prevent a more global approach to street space planning. Some specific projects such as the introduction of dedicated bicycle or bus lanes are dominated by a purely technical approach. District councils are strictly focused on their jurisdiction and often ignore the impacts or the network dimension of projects out of their perimeter. Neighbouring councils poorly cooperate with each other on common issues. Some important stakeholders are not represented in the councils. This is particularly true for the business and freight sides. Regarding freight more specifically, an intensive consultation process has taken place between the city of Paris and carriers', retailers' and shippers' associations. It has culminated with the signature of a Delivery Charter in 2006, in which the stakeholders commit to promoting the environment, working conditions, and the productivity of urban delivery activities. How district councils have acknowledged freight issues and how they have integrated the parallel work of freight consultation groups into their own discussions are analysed. The final conclusion of the research is that a better knowledge of the citizens' perception of street space issues in cities is very important for local transport decision-makers. These councils' discussions bring three types of potential benefits: they raise awareness and bring information to the members about on-going local projects; they bring forward new or ignored issues (speed regulation for example); they formalize the local political arena and oblige stakeholders to position themselves. These results can positively contribute to the redesign of tools and methods of analysis and evaluation used by transport practitioners. For the covering abstract see ITRD E145999