Paris in Bloom: The city’s plan to become an eco-friendly landmark
- Mahmud Hassan
- Feb 15
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 17
Paris. A city filled with immeasurable charm and history, from its countless picturesque boulevards to its museums filled with ancient treasures. Although Paris is a city rich in culture, its long-term sustainability is still a work in progress. For instance, the World Cities Culture Forum reports that only 9.5% of Paris contains green space, while other European cities such as Vienna and Oslo have 45.5% and 68%, respectively(Adesina, 2018). This metric alone highlights how Paris is falling behind in this aspect, making life in the city less liveable due to the lack of green space and walkability for Parisians. But hopefully, by 2030 this will become ancient history, as Paris embarks on a plan to completely transform its urban landscape, centred around initiatives aimed at expanding green spaces, reducing car dependency, and promoting eco-friendly architecture creating a more habitable city for future dwellers.
One critical aspect of this plan is to expand the green space within the city. Paris’s Mayor Ann Hidalgo has pledged to plant over 170,000 trees by 2026 encouraging Parisians to plant trees in their neighbourhood due to laxer building codes. Moreover, the city hopes to create a plethora of Urban Forests adjacent to many major landmarks such as Hôtel de Ville and the Opéra Garnier (Oliver, 2021). Most ambitiously, the city hopes to transform Champs-Élysées into an “extraordinary garden”, by creating green spaces and reducing the number of car lanes into two to increase pedestrian traffic and comfortability. Adding these vital green spaces and tree canopies will dramatically improve the quality of life for many Parisians, by improving air quality and reducing temperatures, especially during the hot summer months. Additionally, spaces such as the new urban forests can act as centres of connection for many, encouraging a communal way of living where people can interact whilst also being surrounded in nature.
In relation to this, Paris is also hoping to reduce car traffic and encourage Parisians to choose more sustainable methods of transportation. Approximately 900 miles of bike lanes have been added to the city, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning much more accessibility and encouragement for residents to use bikes to get around rather than using private vehicles (Santoni, 2021). Its famous quais that run along the seine are almost completely car-free, meaning residents can now walk around or bike around along the banks of the historic river. A plan has also been announced to completely ban all petrol/diesel cars by 2030 (Yale, 2017), which has received much pushback, especially from taxi drivers who might lose substantial income if they can't switch to electric by then. But if this is implemented, then the city’s air pollution and smog will be significantly reduced, making Paris a much cleaner and healthier city for all.
Lastly, the city is championing this eco-friendliness within the design of many of its buildings through green rooftops. With most of Paris’s roofs covered in zinc and other dark surfaces, the city has emphasized the need for greenery on terraces and roofs in general as this can reduce temperatures, especially during the summer months (Willsher, 2023). With the rise of the Urban Heat Island effect, Paris has become one of the hottest cities in Europe, with a record 42 degrees last summer. Thus, covering roofs with shrubs and other forms of vegetation can help mitigate extreme heat by providing natural insulation and reducing the need for air conditioning. Green rooftops not only cool the city but also improve air quality, and support biodiversity, proving that sustainability and urban beauty can coexist.
In conclusion, with these initiatives and more, Paris can achieve its goal of becoming one of Europe’s greenest cities by the next decade. It is a welcome effort for many making Paris more suited and liveable for Parisians, serving as an example for many great cities to adapt and become more sustainable in the long run for the benefit of their residents. Although the achievement of this goal will be tough, the city has already begun to change in ways unimaginable just a decade ago thus proving that a sustainable future is not an unrealistic one but rather a future that all cities must work towards for the betterment of humanity.
References
Adesina , P. (2018, November 9). How Green Is Your City? In Paris, the Answer Is Not Green
Enough. Time. https://time.com/5439996/paris-greenery-canopy-cover/
Oliver, H. (2021, November 3). Paris is planning to become Europe’s greenest city. Time out
Santoni, S. (2021, October). Paris’ Grand Plan to Become Europe’s Greenest City. My French
Country Home Magazine.
Willsher, K. (2023, October 24). From grey to green: the plan to turn Paris’s zinc rooftops into
gardens. The Guardian.
Yale. (2017). Paris to Ban Fossil Fuel Cars by 2030. Yale E360.
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