This resonates deeply. As a fellow Canadian, I feel the ache of trying to translate the beauty of the 15-minute city in a context where it often feels utopian or, worse, threatening. For many here, especially those who haven’t walked the quiet magic of a European plaza or stumbled upon joy five minutes from home, the idea seems like fiction.
But you're so right the struggles here are often misunderstood — it’s not about erasing cars, it’s about reviving life. Designers are not anti-car, we're anti-emptiness. Anti-isolation. The challenge isn’t just design; it’s emotional, cultural, even spiritual. It’s about rekindling the idea that closeness can be freedom, that walking to a bakery or bumping into a neighbor is not quaint, it’s powerful.
Thanks for this. Still far from the Parisian ideal, but Arlington VA has the southern Crystal City / Potomac Yards urban mixed redevelopment built on the footprint of a former vast rail yard. Architecture is bland, but the effort is better than nothing.
Yeah, there are a number of major developments in the U.S. that go part of the way toward the ecodistrict ideal. But architectural variety, car free streets, and economic diversity are often lacking.
I am at the disadvantage of not having seen the Batignolles development with my own eyes. But I am not entirely convinced by it. Mostly by comparison with the rest of Haussmannian Paris in which I lived for years. I suspect there was some attempt to copy some aspects of similar developments in the Anglosphere which is really not necessary given the huge success of Paris urbanism. The biggest compromise is that they went high, relaxing normal Paris regulations to allow up to 50m. In turn this means the buildings are mostly self-contained and spaced apart, approaching, if not quite, "towers in a park". This is the trap most "modern" developments make and why they end up with lower residential densities than Paris whose average density is 25,000/km2. Even with the high-rise, Batignolles is about 17,000/km2.
The author is complimentary but from what I see, the ground level zone is not at all like adjoining Haussmannian Paris with its density of cafes, bars, bistros, restaurants, boulangeries and a hundred other diverse retail and "profession libérale" (doctors, dentists, lawyers etc) premises that mean it easily fulfils Jane Jacobs rules about having street activity most of the day.
I suspect mayor Anne Hidalgo and other Parisian powers may have wanted some of those starchitects buildings but really they should have resisted because one mostly gets whimsy at the expense of practicality. Almost certainly it also jacks up the cost. I note the involvement of New York's Tishman Speyer. This aspect reminds one a bit of all the hi-rise apartments in London, perhaps especially the most recent, Nine Elms along the river east of the old Battersea power station (itself now zillion-dollar apartments). Very expensive housing, a lot bought up by rich foreigners. At ground level it is a bit of a dead zone. Batignolles may avoid that fate because it is Paris, embedded in Paris and not so many rich foreigners "invest" in property there because it is not a laissez-faire financialised playpen.
Another comparison to make is with the redevelopments in the eastern 13th arrondissement called Paris-Rive-Gauche, sandwiched between the rail tracks leading to Gare d'Austerlitz and the river. After the experiment of hi-rise (31 floors) apartment buildings in the 70s and 80s in the more western part (of the eastern half!) of the 13th were not great, after the 80s they reverted to neo-Haussmannian which meant up to about 10 floors (lower ceilings meant more floors in the same building envelope) however some up to 12 floors and that is too much bulk to work. It is still not my preferred development but I think it works better for the urban environment, especially at street level.
Then there is the MLK park, at 10 Ha the 8th largest in Paris. Again I think the authorities have been sensitised, falsely, by the repeated assertion that Paris doesn't have enough green space. But this is a tricky thing. Big open spaces are most often deadening because they produce a "wall" effect; they are not zones people transit thru in great numbers. You can even see this on all the streets that directly border Central Park in NY. It is the opposite with the smaller parks such as Washington Square Park of 4Ha. But MLK's 10Ha is not gigantic so it might be ok especially with its linear layout and different functional zones (children, skate-park etc). Time will tell but I fear the combination with those 50m spaced-out buildings might not be good. Compare it to where MLK park's central promenade terminates at its southern end: the delightful Square de Batignolles of 1.7Ha.
Car-free streets, geothermal heating and solar panels: Paris’s new eco-district – in pictures
The neighborhood of Clichy-Batignolles, built above a former railway yard, is a leading international example of a new-build neighborhood, with local amenities, leisure spaces and easy access to transport. Photograph: Ed Alcock/Guardian
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That pictorial does provoke another observation, that this could be almost anywhere in the world. There's nothing to identify it as Parisian. But that's ok, it's quite nice to have this 21st century city style in Paris but I am grateful it is only a 50 hectare morsel, and that there are very few other spaces where they could do it more extensively.
You owe it to yourself to check out the Las Colinas neighborhood in Irving, Texas (near Dallas) if you haven’t already, to see if such doesn’t fit the description of “ecodistrict.” This one, built in 1984 (if I remember correctly), could be the forerunner of what you’re talking about in your article, Benjamin. It was built new from the ground up.
This resonates deeply. As a fellow Canadian, I feel the ache of trying to translate the beauty of the 15-minute city in a context where it often feels utopian or, worse, threatening. For many here, especially those who haven’t walked the quiet magic of a European plaza or stumbled upon joy five minutes from home, the idea seems like fiction.
But you're so right the struggles here are often misunderstood — it’s not about erasing cars, it’s about reviving life. Designers are not anti-car, we're anti-emptiness. Anti-isolation. The challenge isn’t just design; it’s emotional, cultural, even spiritual. It’s about rekindling the idea that closeness can be freedom, that walking to a bakery or bumping into a neighbor is not quaint, it’s powerful.
Thanks for this. Still far from the Parisian ideal, but Arlington VA has the southern Crystal City / Potomac Yards urban mixed redevelopment built on the footprint of a former vast rail yard. Architecture is bland, but the effort is better than nothing.
Yeah, there are a number of major developments in the U.S. that go part of the way toward the ecodistrict ideal. But architectural variety, car free streets, and economic diversity are often lacking.
I am at the disadvantage of not having seen the Batignolles development with my own eyes. But I am not entirely convinced by it. Mostly by comparison with the rest of Haussmannian Paris in which I lived for years. I suspect there was some attempt to copy some aspects of similar developments in the Anglosphere which is really not necessary given the huge success of Paris urbanism. The biggest compromise is that they went high, relaxing normal Paris regulations to allow up to 50m. In turn this means the buildings are mostly self-contained and spaced apart, approaching, if not quite, "towers in a park". This is the trap most "modern" developments make and why they end up with lower residential densities than Paris whose average density is 25,000/km2. Even with the high-rise, Batignolles is about 17,000/km2.
The author is complimentary but from what I see, the ground level zone is not at all like adjoining Haussmannian Paris with its density of cafes, bars, bistros, restaurants, boulangeries and a hundred other diverse retail and "profession libérale" (doctors, dentists, lawyers etc) premises that mean it easily fulfils Jane Jacobs rules about having street activity most of the day.
I suspect mayor Anne Hidalgo and other Parisian powers may have wanted some of those starchitects buildings but really they should have resisted because one mostly gets whimsy at the expense of practicality. Almost certainly it also jacks up the cost. I note the involvement of New York's Tishman Speyer. This aspect reminds one a bit of all the hi-rise apartments in London, perhaps especially the most recent, Nine Elms along the river east of the old Battersea power station (itself now zillion-dollar apartments). Very expensive housing, a lot bought up by rich foreigners. At ground level it is a bit of a dead zone. Batignolles may avoid that fate because it is Paris, embedded in Paris and not so many rich foreigners "invest" in property there because it is not a laissez-faire financialised playpen.
Another comparison to make is with the redevelopments in the eastern 13th arrondissement called Paris-Rive-Gauche, sandwiched between the rail tracks leading to Gare d'Austerlitz and the river. After the experiment of hi-rise (31 floors) apartment buildings in the 70s and 80s in the more western part (of the eastern half!) of the 13th were not great, after the 80s they reverted to neo-Haussmannian which meant up to about 10 floors (lower ceilings meant more floors in the same building envelope) however some up to 12 floors and that is too much bulk to work. It is still not my preferred development but I think it works better for the urban environment, especially at street level.
Then there is the MLK park, at 10 Ha the 8th largest in Paris. Again I think the authorities have been sensitised, falsely, by the repeated assertion that Paris doesn't have enough green space. But this is a tricky thing. Big open spaces are most often deadening because they produce a "wall" effect; they are not zones people transit thru in great numbers. You can even see this on all the streets that directly border Central Park in NY. It is the opposite with the smaller parks such as Washington Square Park of 4Ha. But MLK's 10Ha is not gigantic so it might be ok especially with its linear layout and different functional zones (children, skate-park etc). Time will tell but I fear the combination with those 50m spaced-out buildings might not be good. Compare it to where MLK park's central promenade terminates at its southern end: the delightful Square de Batignolles of 1.7Ha.
FYI, in today's Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2025/may/19/paris-eco-district-pictures
Car-free streets, geothermal heating and solar panels: Paris’s new eco-district – in pictures
The neighborhood of Clichy-Batignolles, built above a former railway yard, is a leading international example of a new-build neighborhood, with local amenities, leisure spaces and easy access to transport. Photograph: Ed Alcock/Guardian
................
That pictorial does provoke another observation, that this could be almost anywhere in the world. There's nothing to identify it as Parisian. But that's ok, it's quite nice to have this 21st century city style in Paris but I am grateful it is only a 50 hectare morsel, and that there are very few other spaces where they could do it more extensively.
Thanks for the heads up!
You’re right that there’s nothing distinctly Parisian about the
architecture. It’s an interesting challenge for contemporary designers: how to be true to the cultural context without being derivative
You owe it to yourself to check out the Las Colinas neighborhood in Irving, Texas (near Dallas) if you haven’t already, to see if such doesn’t fit the description of “ecodistrict.” This one, built in 1984 (if I remember correctly), could be the forerunner of what you’re talking about in your article, Benjamin. It was built new from the ground up.