The first Paris Plage created a real sensation in 2002. The embankment roads, which had been “confiscated” by cars during the year, became a special leisure space to the inhabitants of the metropolitan area over the period of one summer. The success that this renewed operation has brought is a forceful reminder of the attachment that our city dwellers have for the Seine… and of the possibilities to reinvent it.
This collective work, written by Atelier Parisien d’Urbanisme (Apur), puts the development of the banks’ usage back in its historical context underlining the connections that unite Paris and its river. It presents the embankment roads’ redevelopment project, unveiled by Bertrand Delanoë in April 2010, which will be implemented as soon as 2011 in the form of experimentation and small-scale developments with three objectives: to return the banks to pedestrians, to diversify the utilisation of the river and to organise a range of activities relating to sports, culture and nature.
Finally, this work presents the projects that place the Seine in the centre of the metropolitan area of Paris.
Preface by Bertrand Delanoë, Mayor of Paris
