Image by PCA-Stream
Plans approved by Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo will see the city’s iconic Avenue des Champs-Élysées transformed into “an extraordinary garden”
Ideas for overhauling the 1.2-mile-long avenue first surfaced in 2019, when community leaders highlighted its pollution and tired appearance and put forward suggestions for cutting the traffic in half and planting tunnels of trees. The Champs-Élysées was converted from swamp to promenade in the 17th century and has since been home to public celebrations, parades, and protests.
Under the newly approved proposals, the avenue will be pedestrianised, with extra greenery installed to improve air quality in the public space. The work is set to be finished by 2030, and isn’t the only eco-friendly update the capital will receive – more parks and ponds are set to be added to the area around the Eiffel Tower, and the Pont d’Iéna turned into a grass-covered walkway.
