Paris, “world star of fashion and culture” becomes a “city of gardeners”

2023-10-02 19:39:13

The vision is idyllic: on the front page of Stern, colorful plants and flowers embellish the Eiffel Tower. The sky is blue. Butterflies flutter around the famous French monument. “Paris green” headlines the German weekly, which dedicates its September 28 edition to the French capital. “How the world’s most beautiful city is preparing for the future – and what lessons we can learn.”

The City of Light is considered by the newspaper as “a sort of laboratory for managing rising temperatures; to ensure that immense stone deserts continue to remain habitable despite the heat”.

It risks being hit hard by the effects of climate change. A study published in the scientific magazine The Lancet even predicts that it will become the deadliest city in the world in the event of a heat peak. Which would push the authorities to react, according to Stern.

A collective challenge

Not everyone is satisfied with the action of Anne Hidalgo’s team, recognizes the Hamburg title. Some residents of the capital criticize the socialist for not proposing a radical enough solution to rising temperatures, while real estate developers believe, on the contrary, that it is slowing down certain construction projects with its “local urban planning plan”. bioclimatic”.

“But even if it is fashionable in Paris to criticize the mayor, many people recognize that she has taken a good direction.” The changes are starting to be noticeable. Over the past three years, 63,500 new trees have been planted in Paris – the goal is to reach a total of 170,000 trees by 2026. Urban mini-farms and community gardens are flourishing across the capital – including on the roof of the Bastille opera house. Thanks to the 2024 Olympic Games, there is also talk of cleaning up the Seine.

But political action is little compared to the mobilization of an entire ecosystem. Parisians are increasingly aware of the repercussions of climate change on their daily lives. And some companies are mobilizing to revolutionize housing.

“Paris, the urban work of art, the global star of fashion and culture, is now also a city of gardeners”, concludes Stern. However, “if the ‘green revolution’ of Paris is underway”, it’s not just because the municipality wanted it. This revolution “has become a citizen movement. Or, as they say in France, a collective challenge.”