In these times of the climate emergency and the Covid-19 lockdown being lifted, Apur wanted to raise awareness of the two woods, Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes, because they can meet city dwellers’ needs for nature and cool areas. The challenge is to make these two woods more accessible and to find the right balance between their various uses and economic activities, to protect and enhance the landscape and architectural heritage and to develop biodiversity.
The Boulogne and Vincennes woods are two major “lungs of Paris”, places where one can breath, right at the heart of Greater Paris -Grand Paris-. Between them they represent a quarter of the surface area of urbanised Paris, both woods covering the equivalent of its first eight districts -arrondissements-. By way of comparison, the woods in Boulogne are 2.5 times bigger than Central Park while those in Vincennes are 3 times bigger.
They have their regular visitors but remain little known by many Parisians and people living in the Ile-de-France, Paris Region. For some, they represent fast traffic routes, for others the pleasure of jogging along their paths, walking, picnicking under the trees or taking a rowing boat out on the lakes…
Both woods are still fragmented areas which are split up by road infrastructures and concessions. The challenge is to achieve the right equilibrium between their different uses, economic activities, the conservation and enhancement of the landscape and architectural legacy, while developing biodiversity.
Today, the urgent climatic situation, the new expectations of city dwellers and heritage requirements urge us to set in motion a new process for developing the two woods.
Seventeen years after the woods charter -Chartes des bois-, this publication presents a forward looking diagnosis which highlights, from a holistic viewpoint, the actions carried out over the past ten years and outlines possible avenues for development. The work was undertaken in close collaboration with the City of Paris Department of Green Spaces and the Environment.
After a detailed description of the governance and management methods, a forward looking diagnosis is presented for each of the woods, based on four themes:
- landscape and the environment,
- accessibility and mobility,
- diversity and cohabitation of uses,
- and areas with specific issues: bordering edges and high places.
This forward looking diagnosis can provide a common core of information and contribute to future exchanges and choices made by the City of Paris, State Departments and Local Authorities.
