An iconic green development near the heart of Paris has been scrapped after a judge ruled that it would actually make pollution worse.
The hull-shaped Thousand Trees project – which resembles a ship full of plants, or perhaps Cinderella’s greener glass slipper – won the Reinventing Paris competition in 2016 and was set to straddle the Boulevard Peripherique to the west of the capital.
As well as housing a forest-worth of trees, a hotel, housing, offices and shops, the 500,000 sq ft design was meant to be a “rampart against pollution” which would “vegetalise” the capital ahead of the 2024 Olympics.
It was granted planning permission in 2019. But now a court has backed a challenge by environmentalists that the Thousand Trees project will actually pollute the air, by forcing fume-laden air from the Peripherique into the surrounding housing areas.
The council behind the project has said it is considering an appeal.
