Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
during his tenure to help improve - or hinder, for those driving cars - transportation in Paris.
These included the now famous Vélib' bike share program, the Autolib' electric-car-share
program, and the creation of hundreds of kilometres of new bus and bike lanes. Delanoë's
outgoing project was to close the riverside roads along the Left Bank and reinvent a new
pedestrian-friendly public area, known as the Berges de Seine. Other recent developments
include several new tram lines that serve the city outskirts, with more on the way.
Renovation & Reclamation
Urban renovation in France never comes easy, as restrictive building codes and a
conservative-minded public often join forces to delay the creation of pretty much anything
that threatens the country's treasured architectural harmony. Give credit to Paris, then, that it
has not been content to rest on its laurels. From community actions, like turning an art-
nouveau-covered market to a sports centre in the Haut-Marais, to gargantuan projects affect-
ing thousands of commuters every day, such as the complete overhaul of the Forum des
Halles, urban planners have been busy. The French capital is an architectural reference ac-
customed to looking good, and faded grandeur or a glamorous history is simply not suffi-
cient.
Other big projects include reclaiming old industrial zones and turning them into green
space. The abandoned Petite Ceniture railway line - which over the years has become a
wildlife corridor - was recently opened to the public in three separate areas, the longest be-
ing a 1.3km stretch in the 15e. Another inventive reclamation project is Île Seguin, in
Boulogne-Bilancourt on Paris' western fringe, which may see Jean Nouvel morph an aban-
doned Renault car factory on an island into a visionary eco-city with a cultural centre, artists
residences, waterside gardens, walkways, tree-lined esplanades, restaurants and play spaces.
