Greener in the city

From Paris to Barcelona, Europe’s great urban centres are using the pandemic to plant for a more sustainable future

Getting cities green has been on the agenda for many of Europe’s great cities. While the past year has been devastating for them, with both reduced tourism and a dip in population as residents fled for the countryside, policymakers saw an opportunity to hasten the timeline on their green-tinged goals. They also saw the need to give those still living in cities more public space, an extension of their homes.

Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, recently gave the go-ahead to a £225million makeover of the ChampsÉlysées. The 1.2-mile (1.9km) stretch will become an “extraordinary garden”. Plans include reducing the number of car lanes from four to two, creating new pedestrian areas and planting “tree tunnels” that improve air quality along the avenue.

Putting nature back into urban life is clearly a priority for the city. Four “urban forests” are to be planted, including in front of the Hôtel de Ville and behind the Palais Garnier. There will also be the recovery of the Bièvre river, a tributary of the Seine whose source can be found near Versailles, from where it winds through four departments before joining Paris’s famous river.

“There’s new momentum for this project as we face the climate crisis, increasing heatwaves and the threat to biodiversity,” says Dan Lert, the deputy mayor overseeing these plans.

It’s a similar story in Barcelona, which, before the pandemic, received more than 32million people every year. Its air pollution was above World Health Organisation-recommended levels, and platforms like Airbnb contributed to driving up rents, thus pricing out residents.

“We know that tourism is going to be back in Barcelona […] It will look different, but we need to take the opportunity to make it more sustainable,” says Barbara Pons-Giner of Barcelona City Council.

Covid-19 served to accelerate this process. Barcelona added 21 kilometres of temporary bicycle lanes during the pandemic. They will become permanent, along with an additional eight kilometres.

As in Paris, trees will play a key role. “We have a problem in Barcelona that in probably 20, 30 years we will very likely

have the climate of northern Africa. So, trees [will] help to cool the island effect.” This can already be seen on the sea-adjacent Via Laietana, where the increased greenery will provide breezy shade.

Similarly, Copenhagen has revealed plans to build a “parkipelago” of floating parks, while London’s Phytology, a mini-nature reserve in Bethnal Green, is showing how cities can be rewilded. More recently, Earthwatch Europe announced it was looking to implement “tiny forests” around the UK on plots the size of tennis courts.

i Plans for the Champs-Élysées in Paris will turn the city into an ‘extraordinary garden’