Three major development projects for a sustainable Paris

For the capital, 2024 will be an Olympic year but also a year geared towards sustainable development. One of the most impressive projects will be the planned creation of a vast garden linking Trocadero to the Eiffel Tower. The aim? To provide a greener, more seamless, and more enjoyable experience for the millions of people who visit the site each year. From Trocadero to the Champ-de-Mars and Ecole Militaire, the entire area will be redesigned and transformed to create a new green space for walkers and environmentally friendly transport. Priority will be given to pedestrians and significant importance will be given to public transport to facilitate the circulation of the 30 million annual visitors to the Eiffel Tower.

The ‘Great Eiffel Tower site’, a new green space in the heart of Paris, is intended to be a relaxing and green setting for the enjoyment of tourists, as well as Parisians, and families in particular.

Again in the run-up to the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the famous Place de la Concorde will get an impressive makeover, and after the Games, it will be the turn of the Avenue des Champs-Elysées.

This project will have two phases, beginning with the Place de la Concorde and finishing with the ‘world’s most famous avenue’ the Champs-Elysées, although this will happen after the city has hosted the 2024 summer Olympics. Named ‘extraordinary garden’ by Paris’s mayor Anne Hidalgo, this huge greening project will give pride of place to pedestrians, by halving the number of lanes for traffic on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées. The area around the Arc de Triomphe will also be redesigned and will be transformed according to the seasons into a garden, a skating rink, and even a beach!

The Place de la Concorde will be partially pedestrianized, and there are plans to plant 360 trees there. The 24 hectares of gardens lining the Champs-Elysées will also be redesigned to create a huge green promenade in this area that is so popular with tourists.

Paris is crisscrossed with an ever-expanding network of cycle lanes. In 2020, temporary cycling lanes were created to limit overcrowding in public transport during the health crisis. In total 50 km of cycle lanes have been built in Paris and around one hundred kilometres of cycle lanes in the inner suburbs. These lanes will then be made permanent to extend the Parisian cycle network. The perfect opportunity to explore the capital from one end to the other while enjoying the outdoors!

In view of the congestion on roads and in public transport, 9 cycle lines (650 km) offering continuous, high-quality facilities will link the major centres of the Paris region: this is the project RER V – Réseau Express Régional Vélo, a regional bicycle network. Construction is planned in two phases, the project will first unveil five initial lines in 2024/2025, followed by four others between 2024 and 2030.