An even greater Paris
French president Nicolas Sarkozy recently launched a consultation process with 10 renowned architects and with urbanists, researchers and engineers in order to come up with a plan for the after-Kyoto “Greater Paris.” The purpose is to create a coherent urban planning for the next decades that will incorporate the suburbs and beyond instead of focusing on the intra-muros city as is usually the case. Propositions will be submitted in the begining of 2009.
This massive initiative is already being compared to the achievements of the baron Haussmann, who in the 19th century tore down most of the existing buildings and redesigned the entire street grid and the architecture of the buildings, giving to Paris its current identity.
Read more about it in this Globe and Mail’s article.