Rachida Dati, Minister of Culture, announced this Wednesday the upcoming installation of a committee for “the implementation of the protection” of the two banks of the Seine in the capital. Rémi Féraud, designated successor to Anne Hidalgo for the 2026 municipal elections in Paris, deemed the initiative “ridiculous”.
Rachida Dati, the Minister of Culture announced this Wednesday, November 27, the creation of a committee to protect the entire “Paris, banks of the Seine”, classified by Unesco, which is located on 3,600 hectares around the river .
In the press release published on
For the one who also co-chairs the opposition group at the Paris Council, Changer Paris, and whose hypothesis of a candidacy for the municipal elections of 2026 hangs over the capital, this initiative will prevent “any demolition, attack or alteration of this exceptional heritage”.
“For the first time, the heritage of Paris will be protected,” assures Rachida Dati.
“Ridiculous” for Rémi Féraud
For the city of Paris, which adopted a new local town planning plan last week presented as protecting its historical heritage, the initiative of the Minister of Culture raises questions.
It was through the voice of Anne Hidalgo's designated successor, who announced this Tuesday that she was giving up a third mandate, Rémi Féraud, that this question was formulated.
“Ridiculous! But it is time to remind Madame Dati that a ministry does not have to be used for personal electoral ambitions,” reacted Rémi Féraud, senator from Paris and now candidate for the 2026 municipal elections.
A perimeter already heavily monitored
When the “Paris, banks of the Seine” complex was included as a UNESCO world heritage site in 1991, the organization noted that it “benefits from legal protections of the highest level (heritage code, code of town planning, environmental code)”.
All major monuments are classified as Historic Monuments. UNESCO recalls that the State owns, directly or through its public establishments, the quays of the Seine (public river domain), most of the monuments and their associated spaces. The city of Paris owns public spaces, the Town Hall, parish churches and many other lands and buildings.
“There is no management plan or management authority specifically dedicated to the World Heritage property. However, due to legal and regulatory protections, the management of owners or assignees is carried out under the scientific and technical control of the “State”, adds the UN organization which recalls the creation in 1999 at the initiative of the city, the State and the autonomous Port of a “specification of urban and landscape prescriptions for the development of the Banks of the Seine in Paris, a reference document for all activity and installations on the banks.
