Cleanliness in Paris: Grégoire presents his method for treating 1.000 "blackheads"

"Black spots are a work of identifying places where there is a recurrence of incivility, uncleanliness (...). The objective is to identify the causes in order to treat the effects," the socialist mayor explained to the press in front of an illegal dumping site in the 14th arrondissement.

In some cases, the layout of the space is an "aggravating factor", he specified, citing "nooks and crannies", while also mentioning the issue of "overcrowding" and the "availability of cleaning equipment".

With 26.000 street bins, Paris is nevertheless one of the cities best equipped per linear meter of road, insisted Deputy Mayor for Cleanliness Pierre Lombard.

"Sometimes, when the bin is used more to put bulky items around it (...), the answer may be to remove it," he added.

The City will rely on a 2023 study which, with the help of Parisian garbage collectors, identified 1.412 of these "black spots", classified into "eight typologies".

"The most important typologies are hollows, setbacks in alignment or indentations in facades, these account for 30% of illegal dumping," listed architect Milena Charbit, co-author of the study, also citing "blank walls, grids, urban devices such as glass columns, large infrastructures such as the ring road, or even dead ends, street corners and covered spaces."

"These square meters have tremendous transformation potential," observed Deborah Feldman, an architect at 127af, who participated in the study, citing the possibility of making a space more accessible with a cycle path or adding greenery.

The City has asked the borough councils to identify the areas where they wish to take action as a priority. Following an assessment, initial measures will be implemented "in the fall".

According to Pierre Lombard, the problem of cleanliness "is not just a curative issue where the cleaning services need to intervene", but can also concern the urban planning, road maintenance or green space services.

He cites the creation of a bicycle parking area which helped to stop illegal dumping, or a "nudge," a technique consisting of influencing individual behavior through incentives, with the creation of a fake door where passers-by were urinating.