2023-04-21 12:34:38
Assuring that the city could soon become unlivable in summer, elected officials from all sides are submitting to the municipality, this Friday, a report listing 85 measures to adapt it.
“The habitability of Paris is in question: we will have to go beyond the usual postures, because we no longer have time for measuring spoons.“It is the serious tone that Alexandre Florentin, elected (ecologist) of the capital, presents Paris at 50 degrees, a report on the city’s adaptation to increasingly frequent and intense heat waves. This Friday, April 21, the information and evaluation mission (MIE) which he chairs, made up of 15 Parisian elected officials from all sides (communists, socialists, ecologists, Renaissance, MoDem and LR), must submit this document to the first Deputy Emmanuel Grégoire after six months of work and hearings.
A slightly alarmist title? “50 degrees in Paris is no longer science fiction“, assures Alexandre Florentin, who points to the rapid runaway climate in recent years. Up to 42.6 degrees were already recorded in the capital in July 2019, and this could soon become the norm. Highly urbanized, the agglomeration is nevertheless one of the most vulnerable in Europe to these episodes of high heat. So to keep it livable, elected officials agreed on 85 proposals to be implemented as quickly as possible, Le Figaro was able to consult. Anthology.
Create new green spaces
Paris has barely 3.3 square meters of public green space per inhabitant, 10.4 including the Bois de Vincennes and Boulogne. The shaded areas, less exposed to the sun, form cool islands. The MIE proposes to increase the area of the capital dedicated to this type of space and, beyond that, to multiply the plantations in the ground to green the city, including by greening the facades of buildings. A relatively feasible measure despite a major obstacle raised by the authors of the report: the presence of numerous underground passages (sewers, metros, car parks, etc.) which limit the possibilities of planting.
Debitumize the streets
More than 80% of the surface of the capital is artificial. This contributes to creating an urban heat island, in particular through the dark asphalt, which attracts the sun, stores heat and transforms the city into a gigantic radiator at night. The authors of the report propose debiting wherever possible, in particular between the feet of trees (which the town hall already practices) and at the level of parking spaces. Elsewhere, they would like lighter and more permeable coatings. So many principles that the executive has already been experimenting with for a few years in schoolyards “oasis», to be extended to the public space.
Read alsoHeat wave: first estimates of the extent of the urban heat island in Paris
Review Parisian urbanism
While high heat is a relatively new phenomenon in Paris, other cities further southalready live with these temperatures“recalls Alexandre Florentin. Elected officials therefore call for inspiration from what is being done elsewhere, in particular by creating vegetated shade houses or by protecting sunny busy streets with reversible stretched canvases, as exists for example in Seville. Each neighborhood could also have a “oasis square», designed to be a place of freshness. The report also proposes to study possible large-scale works for the places “highly mineralized» on the model of the parasols of Medina or the mirror shade of the Old Port of Marseille.
Adapt buildings
One of the priorities for the city to remain livable is the adaptation of buildings, particularly housing, to high temperatures. According to the report, it would be necessary to carry out a major renovation plan, on at least 40,000 private dwellings per year, not counting the social housing stock. The roofs “flat and non-heritagecould be painted white to store less heat. As for new constructions, the town hall does not have a completely free hand: the elected officials therefore propose to carry out a plea with the State to impose the consideration of summer comfort in the construction standards and through housing for better air circulation.
Read alsoParis, European city where people are most at risk of dying of heat
Improving access to water
It is a well-known technique in hot regions, which is found in Andalusian architecture in particular: multiplying the water points allows you to bring a little more freshness. The MIE therefore proposes to create fountains in Paris, water mirrors like in Bordeaux, ponds… And to increase the number of bathing places in the Seine (this should be possible again in 2024, after the Olympic Games), in the Bassin de la Villette (a bathing area has already been set up there in the summer), and in the Canal Saint-Martin, in particular its underground part.
Adapt our rhythms of life
Our society “is organized according to certain temperature ranges“, points out Alexandre Florentin. To adapt to the higher temperatures in summer, the report recommends modifying the work rhythms of employees exposed to the heat, by reducing the number of construction sites or by extending the staggered working hours already in place in certain professions. Here again, the town hall will not be able to act alone and will need to mobilize the State and the social partners. It may also be necessary, warn elected officials, to postpone certain major summer events such as festivals for “do not disperse resources».
Read alsoCan cities face the challenge of heat waves?
Prepare a crisis management plan
These adaptations must be accompanied by more effective crisis management in the event of a heat wave. The report recommends the establishment of abig hot plan” – mirroring the extreme cold plan – which would open up cool places to the population, including at night, extend the opening hours of parks and gardens and mobilize additional reception beds for the homeless, as in winter . To avoid pollution peaks favored by heat waves, the MIE proposes to put in place traffic restrictions in advance, and to study the transfer of this competence, today in the hands of the prefecture, to the town hall.
Funding still unclear
How much would it cost to implement all of these proposals? This is the big missing piece of this report, “lack of time and human resources“, regrets Alexandre Florentin. Whatever the price of this adaptation of Paris, the members of the MIE make this assertion of the IPCC: “The benefits of climate action exceed the cost of the measures to be put in place.The fact remains that these measures do not only involve the town hall and would require the coordination of many actors. “The good news, relativizes the chosen one, is that there is nothing to invent: all the solutions already exist.»
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