Hidalgo sets out Paris manifesto

TURNING office space into extra homes and giving a year's free car-sharing to young people who pass their driving test are among the newly unveiled measures from the Socialist candidate to succeed Bertrand Delanoë as mayor of Paris.

Anne Hidalgo, who is up against the UMP candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet to run the capital next year, has published a 195-page manifesto outlining her plans for the city.

The current deputy to Delanoë wants some 200,000 square metres of unused office space to be taken over and turned into social housing to help deal with a chronic shortage in the city centre. She has set a target of creating 60,000 new homes in six years.

Young people who pass their driving test would receive a year's free subscription to Autolib', the electric car-sharing scheme. A similar scheme for electric scooters would launch and hybrid buses would be introduced to the capital's streets.

Also on an environmental note, the mayoral candidate wants to plant 20,000 trees and clean up the Daumesnil lake in the Bois de Vincennes and the Canal de l'Ourcq in the 19th arrondissement for swimmers.

Other proposals include having a pedestrianised "eco-district" in each arrondissement and installing fountains providing sparkling drinking water to residents and visitors.

The municipal elections take place on March 23 and 30. If you are an EU citizen, you must register at your town hall before New Year's Eve to be able to vote.