City of Amiens

Located in northern France, 120 km north of Paris and with ca. 180 000 inhabitants, the City of Amiens is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy. Amiens launched its first Sustainable Urban Transport Plan (PDU, Plan de Déplacements Urbains) in 2002 which defined the transport strategy of the city. The plan is compatible with a range of other plans and strategies including, for example, urban development and air quality. Within the PDU, an implementation plan for the different operations and measures was developed and quantitative and qualitative monitoring indicators were identified in order to allow an evaluation of the impacts and changes that result from the PDU’s actions. The PDU is currently under revision for the next period from 2013 to 2023. The new plan has two overall aims: one in two journeys are made without a car in 2023 and a better organisation of public space. This is planned to be achieved by giving more space to public transport and bicycles thus increasing their use, as well as by promoting alternative modes in order to achieve a more balanced urban transport system. Further, the PDU is based on four major actions including the construction of the city’s first tram line in 2019, the development of a General Plan for Cycling in 2014, the implementation of so called Street Rules (“Code de la Rue”) and the set-up of a new public transport network.

As Amiens has gone through the SUMP process one time already, the city belongs to the group of Optimising Cities in CH4LLENGE. Their role in the consortium is to share the French PDU experience on all four identified SUMP challenges with the other project cities and Follower Cities. However, Amiens does not only advise other cities, it will of course also optimise its SUMP processes in the three-year project: the involvement of stakeholders in the on-going SUMP implementation process, for instance, by means of workshops and an exhibition. In addition, an overall process evaluation of the full SUMP development cycle 2002-2012 will be carried out within CH4LLENGE. Amiens will also contribute to the other two challenges, effective measure selection and identification as well as governance and institutional cooperation.

Photo: Amiens