Paris to plant 170,000 new trees and turn key spots into urban forests

Deputy Mayor Christophe Najdovski, who is in charge of the city's green politics, called the plan an "urban revolution".

"There will be parks developed as part of all major urban projects to come," he told French daily Le Parisien, in an interview where he revealed details of the new project.

Paris already contains some 500,000 trees in total, split between its woods, parks and cemeteries, but the city wants to widen its green spaces "to adapt to climate change and improve quality of life Parisians," Najdovski said in a tweet.

 

The project will include:

• Five new ‘urban forests’ that will turn central spots into green spaces (Hôtel de Ville, Gare de Lyon, place de la Bourse, place de Catalogne and rue Curial).
• 100 ‘oasis streets’ with plant-covered walls in order to cool streets down during heatwaves. These oases will be located near schools and in areas lacking green spaces.
• The creation of a ‘green promenade’ along the Canal de l’Ourcq and the Canal Saint Martin.
• Make the boulevards around Stalingrad and the place de la Bastille greener.

Parisians rest in the park outside of Palace Royal in Paris. Photo: AFP

Since Anne Hidalgo was elected for the first time in 2014, the Socialist Party mayor has striven to make the French capital more environment friendly, by expanding green areas and bike lanes, and improving the public city bike system.

She was reelected earlier in 2020 on a platform of continuing this work, in partnership with the Green party.

"Turning Paris into a green city is a necessary answer to climate imbalance, to the biodiversity crisis, and it's also a way to improve our living environment," Hidalgo said in a letter seen by Le Parisien.

"Nature makes the city stronger, more resilient, more pleasant and more welcoming," she said.

 

There is no set end-date for the project, but the mayor has vowed to make turning the city greener a "priority axis" for her mandate, which runs until 2026.

Hidalgo’s objective is to turn 40 percent of the capital's spaces into green areas by 2040. However, that rests on her being reelected more then once between here and then.