Paris Rive Gauche Project: (Re)developping the City on the City

Abstract

Paris hasn't experienced such excitement since the huge changes brought about by Baron Haussmann in the 19th century. Paris Rive Gauche project, started in 1991, is the largest urban project in city ever since, it represents about 1% of Paris territory. It takes place on a workshops, factories and warehouses area that prospered along the Seine river and the railways in the 19th century. Originally planned as a business quarter, Paris Rive Gauche, developed by SEMAPA for the City of Paris, fosters urban diversity through housing, offices, public facilities, shops, creating a stimulating neighbourhood where 18,000 residents, 30,000 students as well as 60,000 employees will soon croth paths. This project's main principles are urban and social diversity, deployment of public facilites, the development of new university campus inside the city, promotion of industrial patrimony and connecting the old 13th distict to the river and the opposite side. Half of the project is going to be built on a concrete slab that covers the railway tracks which is one of the major performances of this long-term project. This concrete slab represents the new level of the City, about 6 to 8 meters above the railway tracks. We distinguish three families of buildings on the cover : Classic buildings; Bridges buildings and Connection buildings, these last guarantee the linkage between old and new level of the City.