This urban forest, the third of its kind in Paris, should help combat heat islands by allowing cooling of nearly 4°C during periods of extreme heat.
An “urban forest”, the third of its kind in Paris, has begun to be planted on the emblematic square of the town hall where around a hundred trees should bloom in the spring, with the aim of cooling this heat island mineral.
Between 25% and 30% of the surface area will be vegetated, with around fifty trees planted in the ground near the fountains on either side of the square, where the space for gatherings will be “preserved” although a little less vast, explained the Paris town hall on Friday.
“This new landscape will guarantee historic views, particularly of Notre-Dame de Paris” on the other side of the Seine, said socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo during a visit to the site.
Fight against heat islands
The space available for the open ground, a little less than 1,000 square meters, “is constrained by the underground network of the metro and the parking lot”, detailed Amélie Astruc, head of division at the city's green spaces department.
-The trees, raised in a nursery and transplanted, are already mature, the largest measuring around ten meters, she said, adding that the species chosen (hornbeams, hairy oaks, honeylocusts, etc.) were ” resistant to the urban environment.
“In the shade of the trees, we can hope for a local cooling of 4°C during periods of high heat”, which corresponds to the drop measured this summer on the Place de Catalogne (south), the first Parisian “urban forest”.
Revegetation work is also underway at Place du Colonel Fabien (north-east) where the headquarters of the Communist Party is located, designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, and Porte Maillot (north-west).
Some 120 streets should also be greened this winter in the capital, according to the municipality which will consult Parisians on March 23 on the generalization of this type of road.
