Paris: will the bridge buildings above the ring road see the light of day?
More than a year after the cancellation of the building permits which were to emerge above the ring road near Porte Maillot (17th), the question of the construction of buildings-bridges above this urban axis, yet considered highly polluted, is once again on the table. The subject will be debated at the next Council of Paris, which will open on Tuesday 13 December.
The Parisian municipality has decided to appeal in cassation with the Council of State concerning two real estate projects – “Mille Arbres” and “La ville multi-strates” – which were to be carried out above the ring road, but which had been challenged by the courts due to the risks associated with pollution. Why is she so attached to these constructions?
“History of ego” says some elected officials, while others evoke the possibility that the City will have to pay “inconveniences because of its commitment with the builders of the two projects”. On the side of the City, we recall that we are talking about “enough development projects” on the scale of all of Paris.
And to defend his wish to appeal in cassation because of the lack of perspective of justice for this project “which will not see the light of day for ten years”. “For justice, it’s as if the project was for tomorrow, but it will not come out for at least ten years,” we thunder at the Town Hall.
Pollution at the heart of the debate?
At the beginning of October, the Administrative Court of Appeal had indeed rejected the appeal of the City and the two builders, considering that “the displacement of pollutants from car traffic at the entrance and exit of the tunnels created by the projects will lead, in particular, to an increase in the concentration of nitrogen dioxide in the surrounding area’.
A decision which does not take into account “the positive impacts of the pollution reduction policies implemented by the City” and which will see the light of day in the coming years, it is assured in the entourage of Emmanuel Grégoire, first deputy mayor of Paris, also in charge of urban planningwho considers that “these satisfactory elements to be taken into account”,
And to list these anti-pollution measures: “the revegetation of the ring road, the ban on diesel vehicles in Paris and on the territory of the Metropolis in 2024 via the Low Emission Zone (ZFE) or the reduction of the place of the car in the city”. So many projects “already committed to regulations”.
Environmentalists oppose the project
The elected environmentalists immediately reacted by asking the executive to abandon this appeal. In a wish that will be debated at the next Paris Council – which is to be held from December 13 to 16 – the latter therefore ask the municipality to “take note of the decisions of the Paris Administrative Court of Appeal confirming the cancellation of permits to build relating to the building-bridge projects” and consequently, to “consequently renounce to appeal in cassation”.
In addition, they also ask the municipality to “do everything possible, in particular through revision of the PLU [plan local d’urbanisme, ndlr] to prohibit current or future building-bridge projects”. “We want the municipality to integrate the ban on building bridge buildings and come to its senses on this subject”, advances Nathalie Maquoi, elected Ecologists in the 20th.
According to her, the risk of exposure to far too high levels of pollution, revealed by the impact studies already carried out, is not worth it in the face of the sole fact of “marking the City with a very strong urban gesture”. . Not to mention “the amount of concrete to hold” to achieve such architectural feats.
“The court canceled the building permits for two buildings spanning the ring road for public health reasons. But the Mayor of Paris has decided to appeal in cassation. Ecologists oppose it deeply”, a reacted Emile Meunier, who evokes “the ego of the mayor of Paris” in the face of what could be considered “as a victory for Ecologists”.
“The ecologists have a better plan for the surroundings of the ring road”, continues the elected EELV, who intends to “revive the green belt”, via the “classification of the embankments in “protected green space””, via the “transformation of the ring road in an urban boulevard” like what is done on the Maréchaux” or even via “the ban on constructions along the way”.
Today, only one other building-bridge project is actually under study, with the construction of a 4-star hotel above the ring road as part of the redevelopment of the Porte de Montreuil (20th). A project “which will never see the light of day”, wants to believe Nathalie Maquoi.