where is the promise of greening emblematic places in the capital for the Olympics?

Several renovation or transformation projects were planned in Paris for the Games. If the Avenue des Champs-Elysées will have changed its appearance, the urban forests of the town hall and the Place du Colonel-Fabien will not be ready.

Renovating the City of Lights for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, a vast project. During her January greetings, the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, promised a transformation of the capital, including in particular the revegetation of some of its emblematic places with: the creation of urban forests on the square in front of the town hall and on the Place du Colonel-Fabien, the transformation of the Montparnasse Tower and the renovation of the Avenue des Champs-Elysées. One hundred days before the Olympics, Wednesday April 17, where are these projects? Will they be ready for the start of the tests?

The creation of urban forests: late

Anne Hidalgo announced during her 2024 wishes that urban forests would be created “at the end of the planting season”, lasting from November to March. These forests therefore had to be ready for the Games. They are also often presented as the solution to global warming in cities. For the mayor of Paris, trees are “our best allies in times of heatwave”which justifies “keep planting trees”. The square in front of the town hall (4th arrondissement) was supposed to be green this year. The project had already been announced by Anne Hidalgo in an interview with Parisian in June 2019 and was due to see the light of day in 2020. But, almost four years later, the town hall square has not become an oasis of greenery.

Paris town hall faced technical challenges. “It is difficult to plant in an urban environmentexplains the municipality to franceinfo. It’s quite complex and very expensive. We continue to study the location in order to choose the right project.”. This urban forest will therefore not be ready for the Games this summer. Since February, the town hall has still launched work on “vegetation of tree bases”, as we can read in this note for the attention of the public (in PDF). The end of the project is scheduled for April 19.

Place du Colonel-Fabien, straddling the 10th and 19th arrondissements, must also be transformed. Also announced there by Anne Hidalgo during her wishes, the project was to see the light of day this year. However, after the vote on the project on January 25, 2023, Alexandra Cordebard, the mayor of the 10th arrondissement, announced in a tweet on that the “new place of Colonel-Fabien”with “60% of space dedicated to pedestrians, bicycles and greenery”, for… 2025.

A deadline confirmed by the City of Paris. “The work will begin after the Games, or even at the beginning of 2025”, admits the town hall. If the place is currently under construction (as can be seen in the second photo below)this concerns a water connection.

Visitors to the Olympic Games will therefore not be able to rest in the urban forests of the town hall and Place du Colonel-Fabien this summer. But, according to Paris town hall, two other similar projects will be carried out on Place de Catalogne and in Charonne before the Games.

The transformation of the Montparnasse tower: not yet started

The famous Montparnasse Tower, considered the only skyscraper in Paris, was also due to get a makeover this year. The architects of Nouvelle AOM, a collective of three Parisian agencies, were tasked with remodeling the tower inaugurated in 1973.

This pharaonic project (300 million euros budget) includes a hanging garden, an additional floor 18 meters high with an agricultural greenhouse and photovoltaic panels, all capable of providing half of the tower’s artificial lighting needs. On the town hall website, the end of the work is always announced for “the 2024 Olympics”. However, the work has still not started. Questioned on this subject, Nouvelle AOM and the owners of the tower have, to date, not responded to our requests. One thing is certain, the project will not be ready on July 26, the start date of the Paris Games.

The Maine-Montparnasse district, in the 14th arrondissement, must also be redeveloped for the Games. “The project will reinvent public space to make way for an urban forest with modified circulation axes allowing the creation of great pedestrian continuity” can we read on the Paris town hall website. This work is in progress and “should be delivered in the coming months”according to the municipality.

The renovation of the Champs-Elysées: the first phase is completed

The most famous avenue in the world, popular with tourists and luxury brands, is the victim of a certain disaffection among Parisians. According to an Ifop survey commissioned by the Champs-Elysées committee in 2019, four out of ten Parisians have a bad image of this district. To compensate for this disenchantment, the City of Paris has undertaken work.

The project aims to “renovate and green the famous avenue by 2024”, at first, then “regreen in depth” the venue after the Games. Here, the town hall respected the deadlines set. “The paving has been reworked, all of the street furniture has been renovated, the tree stands have been greened”, details the Paris town hall. The first phase of work is almost complete and should be fully completed “in the next weeks”assures the municipality.

Finally, the traders of the Champs are currently installing new terraces which “respond to the challenges of our time”, explains the press release from the Champs-Elysées committee. Nineteen new terrace locations therefore appear and must constitute “islands of freshness for their users”.