In the beginning, it’s an undeniable fact: the ideal city is green [P. 2]. In the end, it will be a utopia made real: the city The living cities magazine becomes nature. Is the Let’s start out by exploring the various aesthetic qualities of our urban landscapes [P. 4], before going nature-city to see - from to Tokyo, and from London to a utopia New York - if the grass really is greener on the other 2020 Winter side [P. 10]. Crossing our urban landscapes as usual, let’s stop for a minute to take in their strange beauty [P. 6]. In a subdued and leafy courtyard, let’s take enjoyment in pure urban wonders. Let’s listen to the silence [P. 14] before gazing at the flight of a titmouse, the ballet of the bees, or the beat of a butterfly’s wings [P. 16]. Let’s leisurely stroll along the footpath, lifting our eyes towards the canopy of large trees that bear witness to an ancient and reassuring presence of greenery in our cities [P. 18]. Here and there, surprising architecture sticks out, where greenery is challenging concrete, where wood is putting an end to its years of dominance. As if the town were becoming more biomimetic, symbiotic… and enjoyable? [P. 20] Will we end up growing gardens right on our building façades? [P. 23] Let’s climb up in the cable car to contemplate the city from up above [P. 24]. From up there, the urban forests are highlighted most clearly [P. 26], when the gardeners out enjoying themselves look minuscule, working in their wild-seeming shared spaces [P. 29]. The race for greenery seems quite invigorating. Once we’ve come back down, let’s enjoy a short walk to imagine how, here and there, the city will become nature. We’ll meet you there. Through our “Qualité de villes” collection, we aim to offer you a purposefully open approach to the city. We invite you to choose what inspires you from among the ideas, experiences, observations, and meetings that we tackle in each issue. We will be giving the floor to all kinds of expertise on cities. Reading the pages of this magazine, you will find everything that makes cities what they are. Each issue will have a main theme that we approach through a variety of angles and formats. We want everyone to think about, discuss, and thoroughly examine the perpetually moving entity that is the city; an entity that builds us as much as we build it.

The living cities magazine

ratpgroup.com @RATPGroup_Terr

1 Editorial Catherine Guillouard, RATP Group Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer

While cities are growing at a faster rate, and in a context of climate emergency, what can greenery in the city do? A lot, undoubtedly. “Green lungs” are natural spaces that contribute to addressing the climatic challenges faced by cities. They promote conviviality and quality of life and health, and are popular with residents. Their presence has become an integral part in a city’s appeal.

So then, is the “nature-city” a utopia or a future within our grasp? As partner of smart and sustainable cities, RATP Group is convinced that bringing nature back to the hearts of neighbourhoods will drive progress for everyone. For an operator like us, visualising the nature- city first of all entails addressing the challenges of sustainable mobility. It is first and foremost about removing carbon from public transport to let the city breathe, while working, such as in Paris and London, towards transforming bus depots to make electric or “To become biogas-powered bus fleets available to residents. It means combining our real estate projects, industrial buildings, and urban agriculture with, for example, what attractive again, will be the largest green roof in Paris at the Vaugirard Workshops. It also means responding to city dwellers’ expectations by contributing to the creation of cool areas by opening up shared gardens. Finally, it means cities have to continue innovating to offer new means of clean and shared transport, in addition to traditional ones, to combat to be liveable individual car use. A perpetually moving entity and a polymorphous space, the city is what we make of it. It’s up to all and sustainable.” of us to visualise it, to think about it together, to make it more easily liveable in this digital age, but also more Reinventing nature’s role in cities means sustainable. That’s the goal of this first issue of “Qualité increasing the appeal of cities and providing de villes – The living cities magazine”, which I encourage solutions to the climatic and demographic you to explore. challenges that they’re facing.

2 Qualité de villes #1 — Winter 2020 — RATP Group 3 Wandering

Green stations Whether already existing or yet to be built, transport infrastructure is now considered in connection with nature. Preconfiguring a new generation of bus stations, RATP has entrusted the Château de Vincennes eco-station project to the architectural firm Projectiles and to Emma Blanc, a landscape architect. Its light and transparent structure will

highlight the nearby Bois 3_ de Vincennes, while the Is the city just concrete? Less and less. From flagstones on the platforms Milan 1 to Montreal 2 by way of Angers 3, nature will allow wild grasses to once again belongs in the city. It’s spilling out spread, in continuity with of the parks to flourish in the cracks, on the the forested paths. Metro and RER stations are also roofs, or in the streets. Whether cultivated or going green, such as the wild, it is protected, celebrated, and yearned Jaurès station, whose pillars for everywhere and like never before by city and roofs have been fitted dwellers, who recognise its many virtues. by Jardins de Babylone. Calming, pleasant, healthy: greenery is making a comeback! And it benefits our cities. What could be better than something that encourages biodiversity, lowers the temperature and level of pollution, and gives some colour back to our daily lives?

Greenery 100,000 trees are going to be planted over six years in Angers, particularly to establish greenery along the edges of the new tram lines operated by RATP Dev. ! 2_ 1_

4 Qualité de villes #1 — Winter 2020 — RATP Group 5 6 Wandering More than licence giventoresidents. (green visa),agardening also drivenbythe“Visa vert” is announced inMarseille. Itis years: thereturn ofgreenery planted overthenextthree 1,700 Qualité de villes #1 2020 villes de —Winter Qualité Group —RATP trees trees

1_

© Sandrine Estrade Boulet 2009 like here atDenfert-Rochereau. chosen: plantinggreenery instations, of RATP users. Amongtheideas in 2016duringacitizenconsultation 47 Marseille, and garden officials.In and park involves residents (blooming footpath) the on Tours, “À fleurtrottoir” de public In space. of swathes reconquering for framework aoffers clear greenery” “licencethe plant to Paris, In neighbourhoods. their of in heart the crops gardens and resurrect to citizens themselves trusting cities are and more More greenery Licence plant to situation. It’sbalance, awin-win etc. ecological conviviality, life, of quality reason: good with And year in Bordeaux. per requested 1,500 with in out given Paris,have been licences is huge: 600 over popularity Its free. for space public occupy temporarily to individuals allows , 795

1 “Visa vert” “Visa vert” ballotswere cast

7 Wandering

0% herbicides The choice of eco-grazing, particularly for the maintenance of RER banks, allows us to forego the use of chemical weed killer, 10% banned as of now, and to This is the proportion of its territory enhance the biodiversity that Singapore has decided to dedicate of the spaces maintained. to green spaces. Today, it is the greenest city in the world. 1_ Fresh ideas A green area is a cool area. In some cities, these precious spaces are a historical legacy, like in Singapore 1: since its creation, the “garden city” dedicates 10% of its territory to green spaces. Today, with their populations growing rapidly, cities are doubling down on ground- breaking initiatives. Thus Sadiq Khan, the mayor

of London, has supported 3_ the project by geographer Daniel Raven-Ellison: 100% natural maintenance acquiring for the British RATP has already opted for capital the accolade of being eco-grazing with the use of the first “national park” sheep and goats to maintain city in the world. In Spain, the banks of the RER B 3. Madrid 2 has been testing Since spring 2019, the an idea by Marc Grañen, a night-time weeding work Spanish landscape architect on the 250 kilometres and artist, for two years. of overhead metro lines Greenery has been fitted in its network, carried out on the roofs of 130 buses in spring and autumn each servicing the two busiest year to assure track stability routes in Madrid. In summer, and limit the risks of fire due they help to lower the to dry vegetation, has been temperature inside the carried out without the use vehicles by 4 °C to 5 °C. of glyphosate herbicides. It is done manually by RATP supplier companies.

20 kg This is the mass of CO2 absorbed every year per square metre of green roof. 2_

8 Qualité de villes #1 — Winter 2020 — RATP Group 9 Snapshots

What is nature’s role in large cities? What are its prospects? Comparative overview.

5 km PARIS LONDON Population 2,190,327 people Population 8,908,081 people Density 20,781 people/km2 Density 5,667 people/km2 Surface area 105 km2 Surface area 1,572 km2

1 km

2,300 hectares 52,400 hectares covered covered with green with green spaces, or spaces, or 17.5% of the 33% of the surface area surface area of Paris of London

Green spaces Air quality Green spaces Air quality Average for 2019: Around 700 green roofs Average for 2019: 44 hectares of green in the centre of London, 100,000 walls and roofs (1) 8,400,000 (1) street-lining trees trees, which represents or 17.5 hectares. Considerable disparities 35 AQI around one tree per 33 AQI parks 500 with less than 1 m2 of person A green belt was created and gardens green space per person around the British capital 3,000 parks 556 hectares in the north-eastern in 1935 to prevent urban of public gardens quarter and more than public sprawl. Today, it extends 3,800,000 2 10 m2 in the areas close and private gardens across 5,180 km . to the Bois de Vincennes and the Bois de Boulogne.

Biodiversity Public transport Biodiversity Public transport of people are By 2025, there will be wild species and plant species 100% 1,300 637 less than 1 kilometre of people are The buses that a 100% clean bus wild species. The British capital was 91% 300 from a fast and regular 15,000 less than 1 kilometre serve the city centre fleet with all bus depots the first city in the world to receive the “National Park network, according to converted to biogas from a fast and regular will be zero-emission, (2) City” award. the ITDP rankings . and electricity. network, according to electric, or hydrogen With this result, Paris the ITDP rankings(2). vehicles, and the 3,000 double-decker reached the st place 1 buses will be hybrid. • Foxes • Crayfish • Pigeons • Plane trees in the rankings compiled • Stone • Eels • Sparrows • Chestnut (2) martens • Pike • Blackbirds trees by the ITDP . • Red squirrels • Titmice • Linden trees • Voles • Peregrine • Pagoda trees • Foxes • Salmon • Jays • Oaks • Hedgehogs falcons • Orchids • Badgers • Eels • Buzzards • Beech Among the stated objectives • Bats • Tawny owls • Ferns Among the stated objectives • Squirrels • Trout • Hawks • Hornbeams • Mosses • Deer • Woodpeckers • Birches For 2025: development London has joined the For 2020: around Opéra Garnier, • Bats • Starlings • Sycamores of “healthy streets” “Respire la vie” (breathe • Moles • Larks • Maples and of the cycle path life) network: the goal +30,000 trees the square in front of • Hedgehogs • Swans Gare de Lyon, and an network. hectares of • Weasels • Ducks is to have 0 carbon +100 embankment road on green walls and roofs • Peregrine of Londoners emission in the centre the right bank of the 70% falcons will be less than 400 m of London by 2025 hectares of parks . Implementation (1) The Air Quality Index (AQI) is an indication of air quality. The higher +30 from a safe cycling path and in the entire city and gardens of a low-emission it is, the more pollution there is. The AQI given here comes from by 2025. by 2050. Plume Labs, which offers real-time global mapping of air quality. zone, with the goal Airparif, another reference agency for air quality, publishes its own index From 2020: creation of phasing out the at national and European levels. For more information, visit airparif.fr. of urban forests on four diesel and combustion (2) People Near Transit: Improving Accessibility and Rapid Transit iconic sites: the square engines in circulation. Coverage in Large Cities, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, 2016. in front of Hôtel de Ville,

10 Qualité de villes #1 — Winter 2020 — RATP Group 11 Snapshots

NEW YORK TOKYO Population 8,622,898 people Population 13,513,734 people Density 7,101 people/km2 Density 6,344 people/km2 Surface area of 1,214 km2 including 785 km2 Surface area 2,130 km2 of land and 429 km2 of water

11,000 hectares covered with 1,075 hectares green spaces, or 9% of the surface covered with green area of New York 3 km spaces, or 50.5% of the surface area of Tokyo 5 km

Green spaces Air quality Green spaces Air quality

Brooklyn Bridge Park, Average for 2019: renovations to buildings Average for 2019: 684,000 as well as the High Line, 1,000,000 of more than 1,000 m2: trees counted in 2016 as an elevated park running (1) street-lining trees (1) part of the New York City 2.3 kilometres along old 30 AQI replanted with more • 20% green roofs 29 AQI Tree Map project railways. than 70 species • 20% ground area dedicated to greenery. More than 5,000 Over 1,000 Around 209 hectares parks and green spaces community gardens of green roofs (allotments), an initiative Recent addition born in the 1970s that A “greenery programme” of 220 hectares has since become applies to every new of green spaces with a New York tradition. building and all the development of the Hudson’s riverbanks, 730 buildings the creation of the with green roofs, or Hudson River Park, the 24 hectares of Biodiversity Public transport 34 hectares of the the 16,000 available. Tokyo does not feature network, 13 metro lines, plant species and mammal species. 4,323 51 in the rankings 2,545 bus routes. compiled by the ITDP(2). Biodiversity Public transport The public transport Goal for 2020: network is nevertheless 100% clean energy More than 600 wild animal species: more than 77% of people are Goal: 100% electric very extensive: 52-line buses. 350 bird, 170 fish, 30 mammal, and 32 reptile and less than 1 kilometre bus fleet by 2040. suburban railway amphibian species. from a fast and regular • Moles • Carp • Northern • Ginkgos network, according to • Raccoons • Eels goshawks biloba the ITDP rankings(2). • Civets • Buzzards • Old World • Brown-eared sycamores Among the stated objectives bulbuls • Yoshino cherry trees The Tokyo metropolitan For example: Among the stated objectives • Japanese government has big • Raccoons • Whales • Piping • Oaks zelkova and ambitions, bolstered by • 30% reduction pagoda trees • Deer • Seals plovers • Tulip trees its hosting of the 2020 in greenhouse gas Plan for 2050: GrowNYC million trees by 2030. • Camphor • Coyotes • Owls • Elms +1 Olympic Games. emissions • Squirrels • Falcons plan to “make New York trees • Snow geese the most sustainable 35% reduction • 38% reduction in • Red knots city in the world.” in greenhouse gas Since 2012, the city of Tokyo infrastructure with the creation energy consumption emissions by 2025. has undertaken a policy to of ecological corridors between preserve biodiversity, as it was parks allowing different species in serious decline. This policy to extend their habitat. notably provides for the deployment of green

(1) AQI : Air Quality Index, see definition on page 10. (2) Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, see reference on page 10.

12 Qualité de villes #1 — Winter 2020 — RATP Group 13 Witnesses ACCESS‘ ‘ ‘ TO SILENCE IS VITAL

FOR HUMANITY What is a sound? What is noise? What is silence? Sound is a vibration that brings us complex information. If I push my pen off this desk, you’ll know, even with your eyes closed, that a pen has fallen. You’ll be able to tell me that the desk is metallic and that we’re Meeting with in a big room or in a really small space. A noise, in contrast, is a simple piece of information with a high Gordon Hempton sound level that prevents us from perceiving pertinent Noise pollution ’ Bioacoustician and co-founder information. And silence? Silence is not the absence of Quiet Parks International of vibration. Besides, the absence of vibration doesn’t Reducing noise exist anywhere in the world. I believe that silence is the absence of noise pollution. in the city

Our distant ancestors heard the music of nature. Birdsong told them that such and such a place was a good habitat where they’d find water and food. Today, the city has become our habitat, and to regain this Road travel accounts for Lastly, phasing out diesel experience, we create indoor environments, auditoriums 80% of the noise to which buses in the Paris fleet and in which we listen to music. Clarinets and violins have citizens are exposed, add to that of its inner suburbs is become our birds. Cathedrals are among the last this noise pollution from synonymous with reducing sanctuaries of silence in cities. There is a vital spiritual construction sites in growing noise. In order to minimise dimension, a reconnection to ourselves, in silence. cities. For RATP Group, the impact of sounds and reducing these impacts vibrations for its passengers, However it’s possible, if we do nothing, that today’s is a key factor for improving local residents, and children will be the first generation in all of human health and well-being for employees, RATP Group history not to experience silence. If we are overcome everyone. With regard to is implementing measures by noise, we won’t survive. Therefore, we have to clean transport, RATP has to prevent and/or reduce our sound environment, just like we’ve started to clean identified noise black spots these disturbances, while our polluted rivers. How? In Sweden, Quiet Parks is about on the 143 kilometres of organising studies on to award the Quiet Urban Parks label to five parks in overhead sections in its acoustical and vibrational Stockholm. The city identified quiet areas and reduced network (metro, RER, tram, impact and concept designs the noise from transport around these parks to a and Orlyval) and has taken for all urban projects. The minimum. And it was the Swedes themselves who corrective measures. construction works for the decided what, for them, was an acceptable level of noise. It also strengthens its future transport network, It’s very different from one culture to another. We’re also requirements on internal managed by the Société du working with the city of Taipei, in Taiwan. The Chinese and external noise pollution , which greatly have a deep relationship with nature and with silence, levels with each upgrade impact local residents and but Chinese cities are extremely noisy. They’re also going of rolling stock. communities, are being to have to decide what level of noise they want to accept carried out with a constant in a Quiet Urban Park. Musician John Cage says: “we effort to reduce their impact. are what we hear”. If the French decide to develop For each project (stations these quiet areas in their cities, who knows what they’ll and maintenance projects), choose to hear? the construction methods, particularly the choice of a slab-covered or open-top tunnel, have been determined taking particular account of noise issues.

14 Qualité de villes #1 — Winter 2020 — RATP Group ’ ’15 Witnesses BIODIVERSITY The attention given to biodiversity is having an ‘ ‘ever-larger resonance. Regions are seizing on the issue, ‘ proposing action plans, and setting themselves goals IS ESSENTIAL regarding this now sensitive issue. We asked Nathalie Machon, professor of ecology at ’s National Museum of Natural History, to consider what makes our urban biodiversity so distinct.

TO CITIZENS Biodiversity is fundamental for city residents because the ecosystems provide them with vital services. We’re talking about temperature regulation during heat waves, helping with soil, water, and air decontamination, but we shouldn’t underestimate the positive impact on health either. More and more studies show that people living Meeting with in neighbourhoods with strong biodiversity are in better health. This is true for pollen allergies, which are less Nathalie Machon numerous, but also for stress and depression. In fact, ’ Professor of ecology at France’s living surrounded only by concrete hardly seems National Museum of Natural History bearable! The Vaugirard Workshops Until recently, only a small amount of attention was paid to these subjects, perhaps we were looking to The largest domesticate nature in the city because, to put it simply, no one likes insects. But we’re seeing that change; some green roof in Paris studies show that today the public is enthusiastic about more abundant green spaces, with soft management, exceeding the number of people who prefer heavily managed spaces, where biodiversity is very poor. Combining the renewal of In addition to the Biodiversity and all that it entails thus seem to be its industrial facilities and renovation of what has been more accepted and we’re seeing the demand for greenery the re-greening of the city, a site for maintenance increase considerably. Residents voice it when they are this is one of the areas activities since 1910, RATP surveyed on urban projects, or through the popularity retained by RATP. has launched a large-scale of licences to plant greenery. Some towns, moreover, Working towards the urban urban project led as per the are hugely ambitious. I have in mind Nantes and Angers, integration of its sites, environmental approach as well as Grenoble, Strasbourg, etc. In these cities, the company is seizing to urban planning, in we’re seeing the growth of planting greenery alongside the opportunity presented partnership with the French soft mobility. Because cars are clearly one of the main by the reconstruction environment and energy enemies: pollution, tarmacadam, etc. and upgrading of its bus management agency. depots and maintenance The project includes When cities give more space to pedestrians, to workshops to offer 400 housing units, local cyclists, it’s also a good thing for biodiversity as pollution operations aimed at shops, a day-care centre, decreases and the vegetation that often accompanies increasing diversity. In and a new lane. More these paths forms corridors for various species, linking the 15th arrondissement importantly, an ambitious green spaces together. And these environmental changes in Paris, the Vaugirard 15,000-square-metre green bear fruit: among all of the world’s ecosystems, the only Workshops, where works roof will perch above it all. ones tending to improve are those in cities. started in February 2019, It will be the largest green are the perfect example roof in Paris. 700 square of this. metres of surface area And what if, from now on, wastelands were converted will be dedicated to the into gardens? Read the article on page 29. development of urban agriculture, whose produce will be sold directly on site, in a market located on the ground floor.

16 Qualité de villes #1 — Winter 2020 — RATP Group ’ ’17 For information

The Authors A graduate A story with deep roots of the École normale supérieure nature and making it more widely accessible to with a doctorate in history, Pavers the population.” Émilie-Anne Pépy is a This need for greenery increased in the university lecturer in modern 20th century, but it became distorted to a certain history at the and plants university of extent: “they were looking for quantity and not Savoie-Mont- quality. Blanc. A graduate of the The most blatant example is the massive lawns École normale of the large-scale, high-rise housing projects in the supérieure with a doctorate in post-war period. However, over the past forty years, history, Charles- François Mathis we have noticed a change with the resurgence of is a university green thinking. Nature is no longer reified; plants lecturer in contemporary are no longer thought of as street furniture. Then, history at the university in the ‘guerilla gardenering’ movement born in of Bordeaux- 1970s New York, we see citizens committing more Montaigne. While the presence of nature in cities is not a new and more to planting greenery in public spaces. We phenomenon, our expectations with regard to it move from very vertical action – political authority and our ways of living alongside it have evolved choosing where to plant greenery – to horizontal over the centuries. How can these transformations action, linked to residents’ new expectations.” shine a light on the current trend towards more Today, the greenery? This is the very question we asked 50 largest towns in France spend Émilie-Anne Pépy and Charles-François Mathis, an average of authors of La Ville végétale. Une histoire de la €5 million per year These strong calls for more greenery e e to create and nature en milieu urbain (France, XVII -XXI siècle) maintain green nevertheless come up against various sticking (Green Cities: A History of Nature in Urban spaces. points. Particularly, as Émilie-Anne Pépy Environments, 17th–21st century, France). underlines, “this sharing of space raises the question of what exactly the city is. What remains of the city’s identity if it’s invaded by nature? By journeying through four centuries of This less artificial approach to the city raises nature in cities, traditional relationships as well the question of nature’s role, and thus the role as breaks with tradition become apparent. This is of the unplanned.” the case with the health approach, for example, born in the 18th century, deeming that city air is On another note, does this increased presence unhealthy and must be purified through trees. Like of planted spaces influence how we travel?

an echo of the current argument for quality of life While Charles-François Mathis envisions that The book in cities provided by planting greenery. With regard these environments could push us to change La Ville végétale. In France, the Une histoire de to transformations, until the 19th century “the city average area our journeys by making us more willing to walk, la nature en of green space milieu urbain was claimed as an artificial space, an anti-nature per person has Émilie-Anne Pépy notes that, in contrast, studies (France, XVIIe- space,” says Charles-François Mathis. From the risen to 31 m2. have shown that women tend to avoid green XXIe siècle) Besançon (Green Cities: 19th century on, this was considered problematic has achieved spaces at night, as they are felt to be unsafe. A History of a record 200 m2 Nature in Urban and so more greenery was planted. Moreover, it of green space Maintenance, access, lighting, atmosphere: Environments, was encouraged by the powers that be: Napoleon III per person, while “great” nature in cities certainly can’t be left 17th–21st century, Paris peaks at France). Éditions imposed an urban policy expanding the role of 14 m2. to its own devices, and an ambitious planting Champ Vallon, of greenery involves a real investment. 2017.

18 Qualité de villes #1 — Winter 2020 — RATP Group 19 Dreaming the city

“Sharing vehicles: encouraging the move to a green economy.”

incent Callebaut “The resilience of cities thinks of himself as an requires a soft and shared “archibiotect”, with an approach co-mobility.” blending Vincent Callebaut architecture,V biology, and information and communication BIO SIS SYM technologies. His subject? Transforming cities into ecosystems, neighbourhoods into forests, and buildings into trees. A graduate from the Institut supérieur d’architecture in Brussels in 2000, he decided from the outset to use his profession to put forward new and sustainable solutions. If he attracted “A ring road transformed attention abroad first and foremost, into a 21st arrondissement, his project for Paris 2050 showed where co-mobility is the norm the application of his ideas in cities and renewable energy with severe heritage and urban the sole resource.” constraints. A meeting with someone building the city of tomorrow.

In the face of current challenges, you’re proposing a city where humans and the environment exist in symbiosis. How do you conceive that?

V. C. : After having built cities on nature, then cities on cities, now the challenge is to repatriate nature into the heart of cities. With that in mind, I design my projects based on four pillars. The first is energy decentralisation, which implies positive-energy buildings using natural materials, integrating renewable energies – wind, solar, thermal – and recycling their waste. …

20 21

Dreaming the city “Project for three fruit and vegetable garden towers, vertical

SYM BIO- SIS farms, for the in Paris, porte d’.”

…

The second is urban agriculture. `We approach planting greenery fro “This project strikes the right a sustenance point of view, by bringing growing sites back to buildings so that balance between formal the produce is as close as possible to beauty and practicality.” where it’s consumed. Then there is the Vincent Callebaut social dimension. We must remember that an ecological city requires the construction of a common project with which everyone is involved. Today, in our design phases, we’re working with local residents. They tell us what Tomorrow, we’ll all live they’re missing, their expectations. in farmscrapers This is crucial if we want cities to reflect their wishes. Finally, the last In 1999, Dickson Despommier theorised about the vertical pillar is mobility. farm. This professor in environmental health and microbiology at the University of Columbia, New York, proposed using the And precisely on this point, vertical surfaces of towers for growing significant quantities how can we design travel in a “Wooden Orchids, the shopping hub 2.0, of fruits and vegetables on a small ground surface area. The densely populated city, where responds to the Chinese rural exodus by advantage is to considerably reduce the distances between services, leisure, living, and integrating technologies and green design.” where they are grown and where they are consumed. work spaces are in such close proximity? This path for reintroducing sustenance-providing nature to cities is taking shape all over the world: the first vertical farm was unveiled in Singapore in 2012, the AeroFarms site was : If we want to stop horizontal V. C. opened in New Jersey in 2016, the “tour vivante” (living tower) urban spread, this means abandoning project in Rennes, etc. It’s an appealing idea and seems to be the idea of cities as human bodies, a win-win situation: responding to the lack of arable land, and with their complementary on the upswing, reducing the impacts of intensive agriculture, components. This has led to a need reducing the ecological footprint of a neighbourhood, for connection, and thus arteries Marie-Claude improving the air in cities, bringing about organic and local dedicated to cars alone. Today, we’re Dupuis, agriculture, reducing the impacts of transporting food to urban seeing some backtracking; riverbank Director of Strategy, centres, etc. And the list is far from complete. roads given back to pedestrians, for Innovation and Development, example, or the Grand Paris Express, RATP Group Vincent Callebaut, who has worked with professor which illustrates this desire to Despommier, is integrating this urban farm concept into his re-densify, to link up secondary hubs. projects. According to him, it’s about “emphasising spaces that In fact, there is an explosion in the “For cities that are have been neglected up until now: roofs and façades. Through demand for public transport, and for permaculture(1), aquaponics(2), greenhouses, and vegetable soft mobility in general. Of course, 100% compatible with balconies. This creates new jobs and promotes conviviality. while we’re talking about shortening Urban farmers will assure production and invite co-owners to the distances between living, leisure, the Paris Agreement.” get involved with the harvest. We’ve calculated that a building work, consumer, and production with 100 housing units can aim to produce 1 kilogram of fruits and vegetables per resident per week, which is far spaces, this sometimes generates Since 2018, the heat the service of the from negligible!” a fear of autarky, linked to the idea produced by the metro sustainable city. of everything being pedestrianised. line 11 tunnel is recovered It means inventing new (1) Permaculture is a way of farming that is respectful of biodiversity and humans and consists of imitating the functioning of natural ecosystems. But I think that each neighbourhood is and fed to a heat pump models so that cities (2) Aquaponics is the growing of fish and plants together in a closed-circle ecosystem. going to enhance its own identity and installed in a building in the and regions can become that there will always be this desire to 4th arrondissement. This low-carbon. The solutions get moving. And public transport will innovative system offers will be varied, and this be the expected response to link things very encouraging results, experience is an example. up. Today, for example, for our office as it covers on average 35% We are convinced that building project in the Port du Rhin, of the building’s heating the time to act is now to in Strasbourg, we’re trying to develop needs. As a signatory to the make cities that are 100% soft transport with river shuttles. I’m Paris Climate Plan Charter, compatible with the Paris convinced that all this public transport, RATP has joined forces Agreement.” be it underground, aerial, or on rivers, with Paris Habitat, which is going to be increasingly developed. manages this 20-unit building, to roll out this first project. “This illustrates our capacity for innovation in

22 Qualité de villes #1 — Winter 2020 — RATP Group 23 Dreaming the city

f nature returns to our city streets, how will we get around “It’s up to us in future? Undoubtedly by to use urban making better use of urban space and even by flying over space even it. For Côme Berbain, Director of Innovation at RATP Group, if better.” I Côme Berbain nature returns to the ground level of our cities, new spaces for innovation will be opened up, including in the air.

Is the urban cable car the In 2019, RATP Group With another partner, the solution for using a smaller announced a partnership with Massachusetts Institute of ground surface area? Airbus and Aéroports de Paris. Technology, you’re interested Will we see taxis flying over in curbs. Is this another way C. B. : Yes, but it’s a solution Paris in future? to use urban space well? restricted to very specific geographical contexts: crossing a river or steep C. B. : Not quite! Adapting drone C. B. : Yes, we can free up ground slopes. The urban cable car has existed technology for passenger transport space but we can also better use what’s for a long time. It remains relevant freed manufacturers from the already there. The curb is that section today in Porto and Brest, and it pops technical complexity of helicopters of the street halfway between the up again and again in projects in the and generated a lot of interest, with footpath and the road itself, a much Île-de-France region. Between Vélizy over 250 flying taxi projects around sought-after multifunctional space and Boulogne, for example, where the the world. But few stakeholders will that has been highly impacted by new Seine loops, it would help to relieve the be able to transform this dream into forms of mobility: it is there that we congestion on the N118 road caused a commercial service. This is what park our Vélib’ and electric scooters, by bad winter weather. our partnership is aiming for: making that we place cycle paths, and that we a service offering, exploring all of its install electric vehicle charging dimensions – on what buildings stations. It’s also a space where water could we land? How do we manage used to clean footpaths flows and cleanliness on board? – but also drains off. So why not blend these connecting it to other modes of different uses and make these spaces OFF transport in a concrete way: if the taxi green and versatile cool areas? lands on a roof, how do you get to the building’s lift? How many steps are there between one mode and another? This complementarity only makes sense if it is fluid. This is the condition for users to adopt it.

24 Qualité de villes #1 — Winter 2020 — RATP Group 25 Inspirations WHEN

FORESTS Each species gives its GROW own shade Depending on the species, and thus the density of leaves, the amount of shade created varies and can mitigate up to 2 °C. The proof in figures: Plane and IN CITIES chestnut trees: 80% ground shade There will soon be 100 of these tiny forests across the Maple and linden trees: country; many local representatives have been charmed 60% ground shade You’d be forgiven for smiling at the oxymoron, but urban by their virtuous circle. forests are undoubtedly going to be part of the cities Pagoda trees: of tomorrow. Tokyo, Paris, Milan… The projects are Horizontal or vertical, 40% ground shade spreading. The positive effects of these forested areas they contribute to quality of life in the middle of cities are carefully scrutinised in these The idea is also making its way to Paris. Four urban forests should take root in front of Hôtel de Ville and Gare times of global warming. It’s as if Alphonse Allais, who de Lyon, behind Opéra Garnier and on riverbank roads. mischievously suggested that we “build cities in the In the very near future, the area around the Montparnasse country, the air is cleaner there”, were taken at his word. tower is going to be transformed into a small forest. The project, chosen in July, is by landscape architect Michel Desvigne. He notably designed a 3,600-square-metre forest in a Tokyo business district in 2009. A success that has vertical spaces. And so we have the Bosco Verticale (vertical brought a breath of fresh air to a city known for its high forest) by architect Stefano Boeri, two towers of housing temperatures. The popularity of these forests goes well units unveiled in Milan in 2014. The deep balconies of beyond a simple landscaping craze. Confronted with heat these towers measuring 110 metres and 76 metres in height islands, the coolness given off by trees’ evapo-transpiration host 20,000 plants and trees, the equivalent of 2 hectares The reintegration of nature into cities is now a serious increases quality of life in cities. And open ground spaces of forest. A prototype that encourages other towns – business. The concept of the urban forest, theorised by counterbalance soil sealing, another urban problem. Toulouse, Villiers-sur-Marne, Nanjing, Utrecht, Lausanne Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, is inspiring. The method As underlined by Michel Vennetier, a specialist in – to go for it. In the near future, perhaps forests will take is precise. On a parcel of 200 square metres minimum, forest ecology, “the resilience of cities in the face of climate root high up in buildings, pushing the logic of green roofs the density should be three times greater than conventional change will greatly depend on their level or greenery: ever further. forests and the trees from 22 local species. These because +7 °C in summer in the country is +10 °C in cities. conditions guarantee impressive results: these forests grow It would be necessary to cover 10% to 15% of urban areas Reducing the impacts of climate change ten times quicker and contain a biodiversity 100 times for a noticeable effect”(1). A bubble of coolness, biodiversity, richer than their traditional counterparts. Above all, they and air quality: reintroducing the forest to cities seems very Massive tree planting is good for the environment and can be planted in all kinds of urban environments. relevant today and the solutions go as far as making use of thus for our health. The facts are increasingly documented. Fascinated by this model, eco-engineer Shubhendu A report by the firm Asterès shows that a large tree can Sharma created Afforestt, an Indian company that offers to “swallow” up to 5.4 tonnes of CO2 per year, its leaves create minuscule forests. A success. In Singapore, in Iran… capturing fine particles (2). Another example: increasing Over 34 cities have tried it. Daan Bleichrodt, founder green spaces by 10% would reduce healthcare costs of the Dutch NGO IVN, has brought the approach to the by €94 million by reducing cases of asthma and high Netherlands. Since 2015, he has grown mini-forests on blood pressure. former parking lots and fallow land, with the ambition (1) Michel Vennetier, We demain, September 2019. (2) Les espaces verts urbains, lieux de santé publique, vecteurs d’activité économique, of reconnecting the city to nature and creating social links. Astérès (cabinet d’études et de conseils économiques), 2016.

26 Qualité de villes #1 — Winter 2020 — RATP Group 27 Inspirations “An urban forest is a The city of New York has even measured the ecological benefit of each one of its trees. Rainwater retention, energy miniature conserved, atmospheric pollutants eliminated, and carbon dioxide reduction have been evaluated then converted into landscape economic value. Because planting greenery in cities is also typology WHEN a new market. Experts remind us that it will not, in and of itself, resolve the climate crisis. At the very least it offers new uses and will no doubt that makes create a desire to move around cities differently. New sense in mapping of journeys can also give rise to new kinds of services, favouring quiet and soft transport modes our densely WASTELANDS – autonomous shuttles, bicycles – in keeping with these forested spaces. populated cities. Through the density and consistency of planting, BECOME through the plant palette, it’s about raising a natural space The first primeval arranged like a living forest in Paris environment, with a shrub layer, ferns, creepers, bushes, The very first Parisian Oak, holly, linden, and and big trees…” GARDENS “primeval” forest can be wild cherry trees will Michel Desvigne(1) found nestled between soon create a very dense (1) “La forêt urbaine fait sens dans la ville the ring road and the ecosystem. Apart from dense”, ‘The urban forest makes sense in Bois de Vincennes. a light watering the first densely populated cities’, interview with A project led by year, these primeval Michel Desvigne, Le Monde, 26 July 2019. the environmentalist forests grow without organisation Reforest’ any human intervention. Action alongside the The mission here is not to 93% of French people think that access to green spaces is City. In spring 2019, welcome future walkers, (2) 200 residents planted but to give the space to a human right . This is a sign that they no longer want to 2,000 trees from nature and create a real simply “consume greenery” but that they want to commit 25 different species hotbed of biodiversity. A on this parcel first trial in Paris that will to and co-manage these new common areas as citizens. of 700 square metres. doubtless be replicated over the coming years, with the City looking for other host sites to develop its natural spaces. On rooftops, on former wastelands, or around buildings, it’s not only rose bushes and tomatoes that are growing. In these residual spaces, a new way of being together is being invented and is growing. A hybrid of allotments, family gardens from the industrial era, and the American model of community gardens, new shared gardens create a convivial atmosphere on a human level: neighbourhood meals, forms of entertainment, performances, all fostering lively local exchanges. Children who grew up in the city and rarely leave their neighbourhood will discover the joy of the earth and hand-picked fresh vegetables. Novice gardeners will pick up tips and advice from more experienced ones. These new spaces transcend age, culture, and social class. Around a flowerbed, hands in the soil, everyone has a place: the elderly, often with knowledge that they’re happy to share, children, fascinated by contact with living things, lower-income groups, for whom access to nature is once again possible now that the garden is coming to them.

(2) En quête de vert Val’hor, digital questionnaire by Global Green S pace Report, 2013.

28 Qualité de villes #1 — Winter 2020 — RATP Group 29 Inspirations

Eco-neighbourhoods, fertile ground for social diversity Former hospital, urban neighbourhoods all have wasteland, abandoned a common concern for station: the city’s sustainable development in-between places, the and the same goal poor offspring of urban of social diversity, in development, are today areas mixing public regarded as wonderful infrastructure, housing, testing grounds, and services. preconfiguring the city of tomorrow. Of varying size and ambition, eco-

Laurence Green roofs, for greenery, including one Baudelet, third for urban agriculture. co-founder and coordinator of the lasting popularity Graine de jardins association, which This ‘fifth’ façade made up acts as network head for the shared “In 2017, convinced that of green roofs is garnering gardens in the Île-de-France region urban agriculture could a lot of interest with a broad become a deep-rooted range of audiences. Each social trend, RATP Group garden is unique and entered a partnership polymorphous: the one Shared gardens landscapes. The growth of Everyone had to find with AgroParisTech and on our Jourdan Workshops are laboratories shared gardens has changed their place. For some installed a demonstrator bus depot (Paris, the situation by allowing professionals, this calling that charmed around 14th arrondissement) is “For around fifteen years, residents to create into question is difficult 60 voluntary staff at Maison used by the residents of the we’ve been witnessing a real landscape as well. The City but these new gardens de la RATP. This trend was building and the students cultural change. In Paris, of Paris could have opted are laboratories for the Grégory confirmed with the launch, from the residence both for example, engineers, for standardisation, from a city of tomorrow.” Rohart, by the City of Paris, of the built above the centre, by gardeners, and city planners garden prototype adaptable Urban Agriculture Parisculteurs call for the neighbouring schools, were once tasked with to different formats. But Project Leader, projects, for which one of and by an association.” preserving and embellishing by choosing a new form RATP Real Estate our sites was chosen. Today, the parks and gardens of dialogue with residents, it we estimate that our land inherited from the French has allowed 150 very diverse assets have 40,000 square Third Republic. The public shared gardens to bloom, metres of potential space thus had a contemplative as a joint venture between relationship with these residents and ‘experts’.

30 Qualité de villes #1 — Winter 2020 — RATP Group 31 Qualité de villes – The living cities magazine is a publication issued by RATP Group’s Communications, Commitment and Brand Strategy department. Publication director: Anaïs Lançon. Editors: Camille Lamouche, Françoise Moinet. Graphic design and production: Cover illustration: Federica del Proposto. Photo credits: Capa (Julien Lutt, Ron Wurzer); Federica del Proposto; François Guillotte; Getty (Adeiline, Aluxum, Busà Photography, Caiaimage/Trevor, Kyodo News, Stefan Cristian Cioata); RATP Group (Jean-François Mauboussin, Bruno Marguerite, Denis Sutton); iStock (alexangel21, Bigmouse108, Chesky_W, Orbon Alija, Pidjoe, Starcevic); Marine Toux; Phytokinetic SL – Xevi Sánchez; Vincent Callebaut Architectures; Sandrine Estrade Boulet; Shutterstock (Francesco Scatena). This magazine has been printed on FSC-certified paper. February 2020.

ratpgroup.com RATP Group – 54, quai de la Rapée, 75012 Paris, France. In the beginning, it’s an undeniable fact: the ideal city is green [P. 2]. In the end, it will be a utopia made real: the city The living cities magazine becomes nature. Is the Let’s start out by exploring the various aesthetic qualities of our urban landscapes [P. 4], before going nature-city to see - from Paris to Tokyo, and from London to a utopia New York - if the grass really is greener on the other 2020 Winter side [P. 10]. Crossing our urban landscapes as usual, let’s stop for a minute to take in their strange beauty [P. 6]. In a subdued and leafy courtyard, let’s take enjoyment in pure urban wonders. Let’s listen to the silence [P. 14] before gazing at the flight of a titmouse, the ballet of the bees, or the beat of a butterfly’s wings [P. 16]. Let’s leisurely stroll along the footpath, lifting our eyes towards the canopy of large trees that bear witness to an ancient and reassuring presence of greenery in our cities [P. 18]. Here and there, surprising architecture sticks out, where greenery is challenging concrete, where wood is putting an end to its years of dominance. As if the town were becoming more biomimetic, symbiotic… and enjoyable? [P. 20] Will we end up growing gardens right on our building façades? [P. 23] Let’s climb up in the cable car to contemplate the city from up above [P. 24]. From up there, the urban forests are highlighted most clearly [P. 26], when the gardeners out enjoying themselves look minuscule, working in their wild-seeming shared spaces [P. 29]. The race for greenery seems quite invigorating. Once we’ve come back down, let’s enjoy a short walk to imagine how, here and there, the city will become nature. We’ll meet you there.