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［フォーラム後記｜Forum Epilogue］フランス在住で、通訳、フランス文化・都市づくりの紹介など幅広くご活躍されている藤井氏に、都市のにぎわい創出を実践しているフランスの都市について、市民目線も入れて分かりやすくご説明いただきました。　ご紹介いただいた都市では、都市のにぎわい創出のために、都心の優れた空間形成だけでなく、使いやすい公共交通の導入、きめ細かな土地利用、商業店舗構成のコントロールが一体的に進められているとのことでした。また、公共交通などの交通施策が「都市全体で価値を高める」視点も説明いただきました。　現在、都市の競争力強化、持続可能な開発目標（SDGｓ）の実現のために、人口減少に伴う「コンパクトシティ」の形成、都市のにぎわい創出、持続可能な都市形成が求められています。世界的に見ても少子高齢化が進むわが国が、にぎわいを確保しつつ、成長する都市を実践し、世界に発信するためには、都心空間を人・公共交通のための空間として利活用し、人々の交流を促すための包括的な取り組みが必要と考えています。また、藤井氏が著書で記しているように、「出来るかどうか」ではなく、「どのようにすれば出来るか」が、都市づくりに必要な視点であると感じる講演でした。 ［ファシリテーター：児玉 健］Ms. Fujii, who lives in France and is active as an interpreter and in introducing French culture and urban planning, showed us from a citizens’ perspective how France is able to create healthy and vibrant cities. In the cities discussed, urban activity was produced not only by creating well-designed city centers but by introducing user-friendly public transportation, case-by-case consideration for land use, and control of commercial store composition. Ms. Fujii also explained how public transit and other transportation policies increase the value of the city as a whole. Today, to enhance their competitiveness and attain sustainable development goals (SDGs), cities have to become “compact cities” as population decreases, find ways to generate urban vitality, and emerge as sustainable communities. This is a challenge for a country like Japan, an aging society with a low birthrate that stands out worldwide. We believe central city spaces have to be set aside for pedestrians and transport and comprehensive efforts must be made to promote exchange among people. The lecture made us realize, as Ms. Fujii writes in her books, that the perspective needed in urban planning is not whether something is possible or not, but how something can be made possible. [Facilitator: Ken Kodama]Laws that Foster Urban Vitality and ProsperityIn France, where city planning is based on the policy of pedestrians first, the plazas are full of people even on week-days. This urban vitality is the result of carefully deliberated laws and regulations that bring together urban planning master plans, housing supply plans, and transportation mas-ter plans based on the 1982 Domestic Transport Guidance Law (LOTI). The management of plazas is entrusted to the smallest municipal unit, the commune, which can also be an association of self-governing bodies for a larger area. Each commune has the authority to implement policies restricting automotive traffic for protection of pedestrians or to real-locate urban spaces. In Japan, the Building Standards Act is administered uniformly throughout the country, but in France, each municipality drafts its own regulations. A mas-ter urbanist (city planner) selected by the municipality takes the lead in deciding the details of the overall plan, which also controls individual buildings. By giving authority to small municipal entities, the law allows cities to pursue coherent urban improvement and development plans, foster local cul-ture, and sustain their own prosperity. Transportation Systems as Social ServicesWhat motivated people to relinquish the use of cars inside cities in a car culture like France? Citizens’ heightened aware-ness of traffic safety, easier access to parking information, and implementation of user-friendly park-and-ride systems may be among the reasons. The shift has also gained momen-tum as people in their 40s and below, who were thoroughly educated since early childhood about environmental issues, became more active in the parliament and the executive branches of government. Also contributing to the carless movement is the fact that people can see for themselves in carless cities and cities with fewer cars the benefits of cleaner air and a more relaxed atmosphere. Light rail transit (LRT) systems̶the French Tram̶have been introduced in 28 cities for intra-city transportation. Thoroughly barrier-free and linked to other public transit sys-tems, they are designed for total mobility. The tram cars are adorned, moreover, with locally distinctive designs that make them local landmarks. Cities that do not have such large traffic volume as to require LRT services are moving ahead with pedestrian-first plans using Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and other bus services. Today, thirty-five small cities offer free bus services. For the French, transportation is an important social service that impacts health, child rearing, tourism, city revitalization, and environmental conservation. Public transportation that supports sustainable urban planning and municipalities that support public transportation with tax money̶that’s the French way. 212018 AUTUMN36FORUM