Paris, a metropolis on the Seine : an XXL consultation

actu - Seine - Pont Alexandre III

Article by Patricia PELLOUX, head of the Seine Project and Pascale TOMAS, head of communication and multimedia  at the  Paris Urbanism Agency, Apur, published in Traits d'Agences, a supplement of Traits Urbains n°46, spring 2011.

The Parisian project to regain the dual carriageway which runs along the embankment is taking form and  being fine-tuned as the work process made up of seminars, public meetings, an internet forum and the  publication of Paris Projet progresses.

A project that moves with the times

Winning back the  Seine embankment from the all powerful car, epitomized by the Voie Georges-Pompidou dual carriageway since the 1960s, has been a recurring issue over the past decade.  The municipal line since 2001 has advocated other forms of transport which, along with the general trend of reviving the role of rivers and canals in cities, has put the project for the Seine embankment into the media limelight. In April 2010, Bertrand Delanoë, Mayor of Paris, presented the press with the fruit of ten months work led by Apur and inspired by ideas which had been developed over a long period of time. He announced the project's intentions, gave a few key examples and also showed some images. Presented as “non-contractual”, they sparked the imagination and demonstrated how the kilometre of the Voie George-Pompidou on the Rive Droite could feasibly be transformed into an urban boulevard and, even more impressively, the 4.5 hectares on the Rive Gauche embankment  into an area for walking, leisure, cultural and sports activities and spaces of biodiversity. A reversible and evolutionary transformation which would be quick to set up once the traffic has gone, centred on uses which vary  with the changing seasons, different generations, alternating from day-time to night-time. Major partners such as the Police Prefecture and the Architecte des Bâtiments de France and Ports de Paris have been approached but have not yet formally  stated their position. The project is achievable, as shown by the studies on the traffic diversion report and confirmed by the general  climate among Parisians, it simply needs to be nurtured...

A multitude of initiatives for nurturing the project

In September 2010 Apur published the 40th edition of its revue Paris Projet, Paris, métropole sur Seine, devoted both to the project and to placing it in the context of  the long history of Paris and its river. The article deliberately highlights the issue with the aim of drawing a wider public than generally reads the review. To achieve this Apur collaborated with the publishers Textuel, was included in the Actes Sud distribution network and attempted to gauge the right balance between the usual seriousness of urbanism agency dealings with writing an account of the Seine on a metropolitan scale with the project firmly rooted in its present day aspirations. At the same time the  Paris City Council approved the launching of the operation and the methods of preparatory dialogue. The classic approach of an exhibition and public meetings in all the district town halls, with opinion registers made available was organised. Less conventionally a series of workshops for children has been organised by the Pavillon de l'Arsenal to take place in the context of Paris Plage, the summer beach by the Seine and given that  the project is obviously of interest to the city at large,  proceedings  will close with a  meeting open to all inhabitants and associations. An internet site has also been set up by the City of Paris to gather opinions and propositions for the project from internet users, be they Parisian or not  With 22,000 visitors and 450 contributions, web communication is a tremendous source of ideas … and contradictions.

Still in the same dynamic, the institutional partners agreed to share their professional expertise during two one-day seminars set up to brainstorm the  project's lists of topics (sport, culture, nature, events).

As the months pass with all these various meetings and the buzz of activity they provoke the project becomes more clearly defined and specific and new ideas  emerge. The City of Paris is now ready to take on the management of the project for which it has created a “Seine mission” responsible for coordinating the work of all the partners – among which Apur, which has engaged the skills of the set designer Jean-Christophe Choblet, remains a central figure.

The revue : Paris, métropole sur Seine on the Apur website:

> https://www.apur.org/paris-projet/paris-metropole-sur-seine

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