INTERVIEW
The Greens won several major cities in France Sunday evening, after the second round of municipal elections. But will they have the means to apply their programs? Pellet-mell: Grégory Doucet wants to plant 6,000 trees in Lyon and concrete-free schoolyards. In Strasbourg, Jeanne Barseghian promises a green space within 300 meters of each dwelling, and in Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic hopes to put an end to the artificialisation of the soil.
For Daniel Boy, research director at Sciences Po's political research center and specialist in environmental movements, these different campaign promises suggest a major upheaval in urban landscapes. Also, their realization should take some time. "It will not happen overnight, it is complicated to put nature back in the city or to regulate transport," explains this specialist on Europe 1.
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Daniel Boy also raises the question of "financial mobilization" to give substance to these different projects. In his view, the duration of a municipal mandate - six years - will certainly not be too long to allow environmentalists to unlock the means necessary for their ambitions.
Empty promises?
The academic does not doubt, however, that the Greens who have been elected are doing everything to enforce their various programs to the letter. "It is more difficult to stray from your promises when you are local rather than national," says Daniel Boy. "At the local level, we are very close to our constituents, people who trusted you. We are therefore more encouraged to keep our promises," he points out.
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But in the immediate future, the arrival of greens in large cities should result in the establishment of new standards, likely to slow down an urbanization deemed too intensive. "There are going to be stronger regulations on constructions, on the fact of not sacrificing the last natural or pseudo-natural spaces in town," says Daniel Boy.