Voie verte

In Europe, they have been organized since October 1997 within the framework of the European Green Network[1][2] to coordinate and regulate uses often prohibited in certain countries or that compete with motorized practices.

[3] In this regard, towpaths, old rural paths, and disused railway tracks are privileged mediums for the development of voies vertes.

For English speakers, greenways refers to voies vertes, but also more generally to "a road that is good from an environmental point of view" (Turner, 1995,[5] or - in England, according to a survey cited by Turner in 2006: "a linear space containing elements planned, designed, and managed for multiple purposes, including ecological, recreational, cultural, aesthetic, and others compatible with the concept of sustainable land use") or a wide range of landscape and urban planning strategies including, to varying degrees, an environmental concern associated with transportation infrastructure,[6][7] the edges of which have often acquired special value[8] and are sometimes associated with the concept of a biological corridor in Europe.

They have certain characteristics: Voies vertes also offer services, located in preserved old facilities such as former railway stations and lockkeeper's houses.

This example illustrates the main criticism of voies vertes, namely the fact that they sometimes contribute to downgrading and therefore definitively condemning railway lines that could potentially be reopened for collectivization and decarbonization of travel in peri-urban or rural areas, instead of taking up space on roads.