The Parc des Hauteurs Project

The Parc des Hauteurs project is about revealing the unique landscape potential of the slopes of a limestone plateau by weaving together currently fragmented open spaces. Over time, the idea is to create a single 320 hectare public park system by knitting together existing open spaces (woodlands, parks, sports grounds, allotments, disused quarries, military wastelands and other brownfield sites) with an extensive ringshaped belvedere promenade. The whole project is envisioned as a ‘park of parks’, multi-use green infrastructure supporting social and ecological functions, as well as a driver for urban transformation. It draws inspiration from creative urban park strategies, such as the Emscher Park in the Ruhr, the Ridge Park in Singapore, and the Parc des Coteaux in Bordeaux.

Initiated by the Institut Paris Region in 2016, the project is steered by Est Ensemble, an inter-municipal local authority with planning powers, about the size of the London Borough of Newham (38 km²) and with a population of 420,000. However, the park project goes beyond its administrative borders, involving ten municipalities including Paris and two municipalities in other inter-municipal authorities. Altogether about 920,000 people live in the larger catchment area of the future park system, many of whom at present have no access to a green space within walking distance from their home.
The urban transformation of the area is being stimulated by the delivery of new transport infrastructure: the M11 metro expansion due in 2023, the T1 tramway expansion in 2026, and the metropolitan ring metro M15 planned for just after 2030. Simulations based on outline planning permissions suggest that these could add 60,000 people to the existing population by 2030, and yet without the supply of new green space growing at the same rate. The park system project plans therefore to increase the amount of accessible open space by 40 per cent, from 230 hectares to 320 hectares by around 2030.
The project includes a number of characteristics:

• The Promenade des Hauteurs is to be a green pedestrian and bike park connector covering 30km and giving a 360° panoramic view over the city;
• Cool Nature is about preserving natural habitats and enhancing biodiversity;
• The Living Park is about how the park could become a destination, stimulate a new way of living and a greener economy on the plateau; and
• Local Networks looks at improving access to the different components of the park by improving the greening and walkability of local streets and squares.

Since 2020, the Parc des Hauteurs project’s principles have been embedded in the 2020 Est Ensemble Development Masterplan (Plan local d’urbanisme intercommunal - PLUi) and the overall strategy is now supported by the Paris Region, the Grand Paris Metropolitan Council and other partners. The transformative capacity of the project has also brought together several levels of government. It is increasingly viewed as a transitional pilot project. However, the sheer number of stakeholders and mostly public land owners, each with a different political agenda, slows down decisions. There are conflicting interests over the future use of former quarries and military sites that need to be clarified through an informed dialogue, i.e. whether they should become nature reserves or open to the public for recreation. 
Another sensitive question is how to reduce on-street parking in order to make room for pedestrians, bikes and greening along the Promenade.