Street Naming in France

Photo: Aerial view of rural road in France (via Unsplash)

Until recently, French villages with fewer than 2,000 residents did not need to name their streets – but legislation that came into effect this summer now requires them to identify roads to make it easier for emergency services and delivery people to find them. While not all villages have jumped at the opportunity, we joined residents in a hamlet in south France as they gathered to decide their new street names.

Geographer and GEDT member Prof. Frederic Giraut was a guest on the RFI Spotlight on France podcast, where he talked about how the law impacts the culture and heritage of small, rural localities.

You can listen to his participation at the 21'53 mark and the rest of the episode on the RFI website.