Paris to build eco 鈥榰rban forest鈥� in four key areas
A new 鈥渦rban forest鈥� is to be built in Paris, across 鈥渇our symbolic locations鈥� of the city, mayor Anne Hidalgo has announced.
The project is set to be rolled out 鈥渙ver the course of the year 2020鈥�. The locations will be in front of the l鈥橦么tel de Ville, the north concourse of the Gare de Lyon, just behind the Palais Garnier, and part of the banks of the River Seine.
In an interview with French newspaper Le Parisien, : 鈥淲e must act today to avoid not being able to live in this city in the future.鈥�
The plan includes making more areas pedestrian-only, growing more plants and grass, and encouraging people to walk and relax in nature.
She explained: 鈥淲e will un-pave one of the pedestrian walkways next to the Seine, on the right bank, and the other side will remain tarmacked to allow emergency vehicles to get through.鈥�
The project also includes a plan to fill in the top floor of the car parks at the H么tel de Ville and the Gare de Lyon with earth.
Ms Hidalgo鈥檚 assistant C茅lia Blauel shared some visualisations of how some of the new areas might look. She : "Paris is transforming itself to rise to the challenges of the 21st century. More nature, less concrete..."
Smaller sites will also form part of the plans, including on Rue Louis-Blanc (10th arrondissement), and Boulevard Pasteur (15th). There will also be a green walkway from the Villette park, running to the Buttes-Chaumont (19th).
