New horizon for the city of Paris. After several years of disagreements within the majority of the town hall on the local “bioclimatic” urban plan (PLU), the left-wing forces that compose it have managed to agree. Ecologists, allies of Anne Hidalgo but opposed to urban projects since the beginning of her first term (2014-2020), announced on Friday April 7 that they had found a compromise on all of the stumbling blocks. If the text must still be validated during the June municipal council, “we are on the way to an agreement”, welcomed AFP Emmanuel Grégoire, the deputy (PS) for town planning.
The PLU must enter into force in 2024. A reference text ordering the town planning of a city for the coming decade, this technical document is at the center of the development policy of the city of Paris. Height of buildings, open ground, social housing… So many issues on which the town hall has decided.
Why couldn’t the majority come to an agreement?
Who says strategic text necessarily says blocking points. For two years, Anne Hidalgo had been leading discussions to replace an old version from 2006. In early March, her environmental allies criticized her for imposing “unacceptable” decisions “at the last moment”. At the center of the bickering: the construction of responsible towers, according to ecologists, of visual and noise pollution.
The same people also insisted on taking better account of the climate crisis, in particular by more rigorously supervising new constructions. The Greens won their case, and it is ultimately all urban planning policy that should turn towards social and sustainable housing.
What is the objective of this new PLU?
“We will hardly be able to build anymore” in Paris, welcomed Emile Meunier, the negotiator for the ecologists. The rehabilitation of existing places into sustainable spaces will, in fact, be one of the priorities. To do this, a number of measures are expected.
Must apply, from 2025, the 2028 environmental regulations with more restrictive carbon thresholds. This will lead developers to no longer use concrete, or almost. This PLU also provides for the lowering, from 250 to 150 square meters, of the threshold of the plots from which will apply a progressive obligation (from 30 to 65%) of open ground on the ground, which pushes the real estate developers to develop the spaces greens. In this sense, 300 additional hectares should be developed by 2040. A way to promote housing at the expense of offices and furnished tourist accommodation.
Why is housing at the center of the new town planning policy?
At the start of its mandate, the municipal team set itself an ambitious quantified objective: to achieve 40% public housing (social and intermediate). The majority intends to achieve this. It has already identified “620 new locations” of existing buildings which can be transformed into social housing, indicates the elected communist Nicolas Bonnet-Oulaldj.
In addition, real estate developers will be required to include at least 10% social housing for each heavy rehabilitation of offices. In neighborhoods lacking HLM, any construction of more than 500 square meters must include “30 to 50% social housing”. The prospect does not please the right-wing opposition, which foresees a devastating effect. The elected LR Valérie Montandon also speaks of a “vicious circle”. According to her, these obligations will encourage the tertiary sector “to the status quo and not at all to renovation”. She is also moved by the end of the towers in the capital…
Will we still see skyscrapers in Paris?
The town hall has established a limit of 37 meters in height for future buildings built in the capital. “It’s the end of the towers in Paris”, rejoiced Emile Meunier, who evokes a “return to the historic ceiling of 1977”. Two areas – the Bruneseau district (13th) and Bercy-Charenton (12th) – are particularly concerned. They will therefore not be able to accommodate skyscrapers.