Flood, terrorist attack, heatwave… How the City of Paris is preparing to face future crises

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How does the City of Paris intend to become resilient in the years to come? This is the question to which elected officials and public institutions of the capital have been trying to answer for many years. In 2017, the municipality initiated a resilience strategyparticularly focused on the climate aspect. This Friday, November 8, 2024, Pénélope Komitès, responsible for resilience at Paris City Hall, presented a new plan aimed at prevent and prepare protect the population from future disasters.

A concept to develop and explain

As an introduction to the presentation of the strategy, new generation and more elaborate, Pénélope Komitès rightly recalled the “fuzzy” nature of the concept of resilience. According to her, this evolutionary notion is defined as “the capacity of people to adapt and transform whatever the circumstances. shocks they experience ».

In concrete terms, the City of Paris has undertaken a whole series of precise and viable measures to prepare its inhabitants to face future crises. The resilience plan for the years to come is organized around 4 major orientations: the development of risk culturestrengthening solidarity and local mutual aid, transforming the city to prepare for emerging risks and finally the mobilization of the Parisian administration.

Life-size exercises

Among the measures from which Parisians will be able to benefit, the Marie is developing a resilience campus. “This fun center of resources, awareness and training to the notion of resilience will be open to all,” explains Pénélope Komitès. In this sense, everyone will be able to deepen their knowledge of the disasters that affected Paris (terrorist attack, epidemics, etc.).

Like what she had been able to do with the situation life-size “Paris under 50 degrees”, the municipality intends to carry out new crisis exercises with the residents. “The objective of organizing a great exercise each year which brings together institutional actors and Parisians,” explains the elected official. Soon, it will be on the scale of a building that a flood simulation and flooding will be experienced.

A “Grand Chaud” plan for people living on the streets

Like the “Great Cold” plan, Paris had the idea of ​​a plan “Big Hot” to protect people in the street during heatwave episodes, in particular thanks to new reception places and freshness. Today, the capital has 1,350 cool islands, “but we need to complete this network,” says Pénélope Komitès.

In addition to natural disasters, the City of Paris is thinking of alternatives in the event of a breakdown of telecommunications channels. To do this, a partnership with the national federation of amateur radios will be concluded in order to “guarantee points of information relay in the event of a breakup.

Finally, to combat the heat in apartments, the roofs of Paris will have to benefit from redevelopment to adapt to the future climate. In the capital, 75% of roofs are made of zinc et and tuile. The resilience strategy will be presented to the Paris Council on November 19. A subject which should achieve consensus within the municipal hemicycle.

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