Mike Davies, director of the project, said: "The train lines going
into Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est are currently canyons of void." He
proposed creating "a continuous green space, a green network" miles
long that would link the centre of Paris to its deprived north-eastern
outskirts. Underneath it, a separate, hidden layer would contain the
mechanics of renewable technologies aimed at launching Paris into a low
carbon future.
The Rogers proposals also call for state
intervention to completely overhaul areas such as Clichy-sous-Bois,
which exploded in urban riots in 2005. Davies described the high-rises
as "separate blocks in space", plonked down in isolation with no
identity, city fabric, or village life around them.
"The great
unwritten and unsaid is that residents tend to be similar ethnic
origin. It's not a mixed system," he said. "Monoculture is one of
Paris's biggest problems."
Overhauling Paris
"Nicolas Sarkozy wants to answer the critics who call him a cultural
philistine by plunging into his new love for architecture and creating
a Greater Paris that would be world's most environmentally friendly and
boldly designed metropolis."