Paris, France: A 21st-Century Eco-City

Abstract

Paris, with a population of 2.2 million, is the capital of and largest city in France, a nation of 64.7 million (INSEE 2010a,b). Paris is regularly ranked among the great world cities, and its history, economy, culture, and iconic landmarks make it the most visited city in the world. In 2010 it was third on the Global Power City Index (IUS 2010), fourth on the Global Cities Index (Foreign Policy 2010), the seventh most livable city (Monocle 2010), and third on the World City Survey—second for quality of life and fourth for economic activity (Knight Frank 2010).

Notes

1. I do not discuss these relevant but less innovative policy areas: drinking water (overall of high quality), food systems (municipal and private purchases of organic and local foods are increasing), and air pollution (roadside levels of NO₂, particulate matter, and ozone fail to meet European standards).

2. The First Republic was instituted during the 1789 Revolution. The second lasted from the 1848 Revolution until the reestablishment of the Empire in 1852. The Third Republic, created after the fall of Napoleon III, ended with the Vichy government in 1939. The fourth, established in 1946, was replaced by the more stable fifth in 1958.

3. Napoleon became emperor in 1804. After the 1814 defeat in Russia, the Restoration reestablished the monarchy. The July Revolution of 1830 created a constitutional monarchy, which lasted until the 1848 Revolution formed the Second Republic. In 1852 the Second Empire reestablished strongly centralized imperial powers and lasted until the 1870 defeat against Prussia.

4. Districts are numbered in a spiral pattern. Historically, working-class areas are in the north and east (11th and 18th to 20th districts), and wealthy areas are in the center and west (1st to 8th and 15th to 17th districts).

5. Paris is both a municipality and a department. The Paris City Council governs both.

6. Sarkozy’s “carbon contribution” was to tax energy consumption and petroleum use, with an income-based financial compensation for low-income households (most industries would have been exempted). The tax was opposed by the right (as a tax), the left (as unjust), and the Greens (as too low). Planned to begin in January 2010, it was cancelled in December 2009.

7. Wind farms must include at least five towers and are defined as industrial or agricultural exploitations that can create risks or nuisances for neighbors’ safety or health, requiring special permits.

8. Local Urbanism Plans (Plan local d’urbanisme) operate as comprehensive plans. They specify densities, bulk, and locations in detailed Land Use Plans (Plan d’occupation des sols).

9. PIG status also gives the national government and the development agency the right to expropriate land.

10. India emits under 1 teqCO₂/person/year, Europe 10, and North America about 20.

11. The European carbon credit market, launched in 2005, focuses on industry and energy production and does not directly affect Paris municipal climate strategies.

12. The Paris Climate Agency (Agence parisienne du climat), tasked with supporting the adoption of best practices, was created in 2011. Its activities are detailed at http://www.apc-paris.com/.

13. The municipality is to reduce by 30% its emissions and the energy consumption of public buildings, and to increase to 30% energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020.

14. These values are for m² of living areas. They include energy consumption for heating, cooling, water heating, and lighting but exclude buildings’ embodied energy. The German Passivhaus and Swiss Minergie standards are more stringent (e.g., 38 kWh/m²/year for Minergie).

15. Similar turbines operate in the Hudson River (New York) and the Saint Lawrence River (Canada), both with higher currents than the Seine.

16. At the national scale, Grenelle 1 and 2 promote non-road transportation. Grenelle 1 calls for the creation of new public transit lines nationwide, mainly tramway and separated bus lanes. Grenelle authorizes cities with more than three hundred thousand residents to experiment with urban road tolls, and it supports car-sharing programs and a recharging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

17. The city administration seeks to reduce the commuting and professional car use of its 6,200 employees (estimated at 46,300 teqCO₂/year), to reduce its fleet by 10%, and to shift its 841 garbage trucks and 3,847 cars and buses toward efficient vehicles. This could lower municipal fleet emissions by 30% (Ville de Paris 2007d).

18. Paris transit systems are operated by several agencies. The Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP) operates bus lines, Métro and tramway lines, and sections of the RER. The Syndicat des Transports d’íle-de-France (STIF) oversees transit in the Paris region. The Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF) operates suburban rails, a tramway line, and sections of the RER. Optile, a consortium of private operators, manages minor bus lines.

19. Paris is also a central hub in the national and European rail networks. It is one and a half hours from Brussels, two and half from London, and three from Amsterdam. Six major railway stations serve three train networks: regular trains, high-speed lines, and the Transilien suburban rails.

20. The national government plans to overtax land around these stops to preemptively recapture property value increases that can be expected from the creation of new Métro hubs. Concerns abound about the potential for corruption as development projects would likely be granted to large-scale developers.

21. These figures exclude private gardens, relatively common at the base of high residential buildings.

22. Gardens owned by the state (the Tuileries, Luxembourg, and Elysée) are still treated with chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides.

23. A national voluntary agreement signed in September 2010 commits nonagricultural land managers to reduce the use of pesticides in parks, alongside roads and sidewalks, on sports fields, in industrial zones, and at airports.

24. In June 2010 the Ministry of Ecology, Energy, and Sustainable Development made illegal in the whole region the consumption of fish from the Seine.

25. This proportion is well below the coverage of some German cities, but much more than Chicago, well known for green roof initiative despite a coverage under 0.1% (Kamin 2010).

26. The Paris airports signed the UNAF Charter, agreeing to avoid products toxic to bees. Six beehives were installed near De Gaulle Airport. Since bees are in intense contact with plants, soil, air, and water, the honey will be studied for environmental quality surveillance.