Keep this article well, and take it out in May 2025 when the extension of the Paillon promenade is delivered. This huge construction site will link the Bourgada to the De Lattre de Tassigny esplanade and the Jean Monnet crossing. A whole district will then be reconfigured.
We know that the Acropolis and the National Theater of Nice will be destroyed in favor of an “urban forest”. In fact thousands of trees will be planted on 8 ha of land. The other part of the project is the complete rehabilitation of a complex housing the Museum of Contemporary and Modern Art (Mamac) and the Louis-Nucéra library. Alexandre Chemetoff architect and landscape designer and Joao Luis Carrilho De Graça were unanimously appointed by the jury to design this project.
– Alexandre Mottot
Ecological and urban ambition
Lowering the temperature to meet the climate challenge or “sequestering” carbon thanks to trees the project ticks a lot of boxes to meet the climate challenge. This walk is first designed as an island of freshness. The town hall hopes an expected drop of 2° to 3° in temperature and about ten degrees felt during periods of heat wave. Alexandre Chemetoff the landscape architect did not seek his inspiration very far. His model is the “dark valleys” like that of Magnan near Nice. Very fresh natural corridors, thanks to the configuration of the rock and the trees. The new gardens of the promenade du Paillon theoretically work in the same way.
– Alexandre Mottot
The trees are chosen for their ability to cool and capture the most air pollutants. There should be a very wide palette with in particular holm oaks, Lebanese oaks, maples or jacarandas, orange trees, lemon trees and even a small bamboo forest. In any case this forest will be dense and the thickness of the soils will be 60 cm to 2 meters to allow the roots to develop.
“It’s not enough to plant trees!” A. Chemetoff, landscaper
For the architect, the other priority of the project is to connect the buildings on the two banks of the Paillon with greenery. An inhabitant who leaves his home will already be in the forest. “The people who live there on either side of the Paillon also find themselves in a transformed environment. There is a garden and this garden somehow overflows to the facades“.
– Alexandre Mottot
We will therefore see the birth of a natural landscape in an artificial environment. “Soft mobility” should have an important place thanks to a new two-way cycle path and the BHLS, the high-level service bus. To park there will be spaces in the parking lot and along the streets. The parking lot for the arts should be maintained under the garden.
The pervasive culture
Faced with the disagreement of the municipal opposition on the destruction of the TNN, the mayor of Nice sided with the opinion of the architect of the monuments of France, according to whom “Urban planning is more important than architecture“. So to cut short the controversies, briefly brought back to the fore during the presentation of the project by the intervention of the elected ecologist Hélène Granouillac, Christian Estrosi announces “Even more theaters“.
– City of Nice
In addition to the new Franciscan hall (300 seats) La Cuisine (600 seats) and the ICONIC hall located at Thiers station, one of the most important achievements will be the future palace of arts and culture with 800 seats, instead of the exhibition center. Equipped with an auditorium, the development of this institution would complete the northern part of the green corridor.
– City of Nice
With the joint rehabilitations of MAMAC and the Nucéra library, the city wants to see culture at the heart of its urban planning project. In fact it is a key element of the municipal strategy in the race for the European Capital of Culture label in 2028.
Some figures of the project
The project should cost 75 million euros, of which a significant portion (45 million) is supported by the state, the region and the department. (60% public subsidies). For commercial activity, the mayor of Nice hopes for multiplier effects. According to his estimates, there are close to a million visitors per year on the promenade in its current state. This gives reason to hope for flourishing economic benefits. If this attendance is doubled thanks to the upper part of the promenade, the impact will be felt on the heritage value..
Some agencies advertise 15% increases in real estate prices. The mayor recalls that the right bank sector is the best rated with a recent increase in square meters at a price of 5793 m² in 2020. According to the mayor this increase was initiated thanks to the first part of the work on the paillon exactly. The inhabitants of the other part of Nice, further north, are warned, the investors too. The completion of the works is scheduled for the end of 2025.