PARIS MAYOR PLEDGES VAST CITY-CENTRE PARK

PARIS The mayor of Paris has pledged to create a vast new park in the heart of the traffic-clogged city if she wins re-election next Sunday.

Anne Hidalgo, a Socialist, seized on the proposal by an influential committee of business owners to transform the area around the Champs-elysees with a grand park rivalling any in London.

While paintings of Parisians relaxing in parks are among the iconic works of 19th-century artists, the city’s contemporary residents often complain about a lack of green space compared with London.

The proposed park is to straddle the River Seine, linking the Tuileries and Champs-elysees Gardens with the Esplanade des Invalides.