Paris aims to cool down the city
As temperatures rise around the globe, the French capital is seeking ways to beat the heat. Ideas include more greenery and fewer cars.
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00:00 Paris, the city of love, has long been a tourist's dream.
00:07 But despite its air of romance, on hot summer days it can feel hard to breathe.
00:15 Concrete roads and buildings turn the French capital into an urban heat island.
00:21 Paris has warmed up by 2.3 degrees Celsius on average since 1885, compared to 1.7 degrees
00:28 in the rest of France, according to a recent study.
00:31 And so the town hall is now investing tens of millions of euros to help cool down the
00:36 city.
00:37 Bonjour.
00:38 Enchanté, les alloués.
00:39 So this is a map of Paris.
00:43 Tell me, what is so specific about this city?
00:50 This is a historic city built for a moderate climate and one of the most densely built
00:55 cities in the world.
00:57 That's why it's like an oven, far more so than places spread out over a large area.
01:02 The Canal Saint-Martin here is already open for swimming.
01:06 After next year's Olympic Games, we plan to open three bathing areas on the Seine River.
01:11 One plan is to replace concrete with earth that can soak up rainwater and cool down the
01:16 air.
01:17 We'll also insulate public buildings.
01:26 City squares have already gone green, like the Place de la Nation.
01:29 Or this roundabout in the south of Paris, which is being transformed into an urban forest,
01:35 since trees are also key to cooling down the city.
01:39 And the River Seine will not only become an open-air swimming pool, it's already making
01:45 a cooling contribution.
01:48 This eco-friendly cooling system is called "Fraîcheur de Paris", a network of underground
01:53 water pipes that is connected to water tube systems in over 700 buildings across the city.
02:00 We pay a visit to one of its main plants, the Central Canada.
02:05 These pumps push ice-cold water through the system.
02:08 The water is cooled by refrigeration units which heat up in the process.
02:12 That heat is dissipated into the Seine.
02:15 Its water flows through a secondary circuit.
02:18 This system consumes half as much electricity as a conventional air conditioning unit.
02:25 What's more, that electricity comes entirely from renewable energy, mainly from solar panels.
02:32 Today the network has 90 kilometres of pipes, and the company plans to triple that over
02:37 the next two decades.
02:39 Paris was the first city in Europe to adopt such an underground cooling network, and now
02:45 other municipalities are looking to get on board.
02:50 Many city officials have come to visit us, especially from northern Europe, to see how
02:54 such a system works.
02:56 It might seem a bit paradoxical, since it's not as hot in the north.
03:03 But southern cities have been dealing with the heat for a while, and have been adapting
03:08 to it.
03:13 Fresher de Paris is already helping to cool places like the Louvre Museum and Paris Town
03:19 Hall.
03:20 But air conditioning systems that use river water can't be endlessly extended, says Morgane
03:25 Colombert, a French expert on urban climate adaptation.
03:32 Systems like the Fresher de Paris warm up the river water, and that's only safe up
03:36 to a certain threshold, to protect local biodiversity.
03:43 So these systems can't cool down an entire city.
03:47 We have to choose the buildings we'll cool with them.
03:55 In the future, Fresher de Paris will also be linked to schools.
03:59 Some of them are already enjoying the benefits of greener streets and pedestrian zones.
04:04 And across the city, cars are increasingly sharing the streets with bicycles.
04:11 You can already cycle almost all over Paris on large bike highways like this one.
04:17 And the city will add another 55 kilometres of bike bouloirs over the next three years.
04:25 But not everybody is happy with the bicycle boom, which is leading to more traffic jams
04:30 in busy areas.
04:32 That's why planners need to take the needs of critics and local communities seriously.
04:38 We need to make sure our plans are accepted, involve local people and explain the initiatives.
04:43 Planners often focus on the technological side of climate adaptation.
04:47 But the human factor is also important.
04:52 Other plans are less controversial, like this new installation that provides shade when
04:57 the sun is high to people in a lower-income neighbourhood in the north of Paris.
05:03 It can be up to 10 degrees cooler under the roof, and we've installed a new spray fountain
05:10 over there.
05:11 You just need to push this button and it sprays water for about 20 seconds.
05:16 You feel the water, right?
05:21 We're installing 24 roofs like this and 73 spray fountains across Paris.
05:27 They'll help us get through the summer, on top of our existing heat measures.
05:32 Our heat plan includes regular checking in on vulnerable people and offering spaces,
05:37 such as in town halls, where they can cool off.
05:41 Measures like these will become even more important in the future if summers in Paris
05:46 continue to heat up.
05:48 I must say, I quite like the idea of Paris cooling down even further with more shade,
05:56 more spray fountains and more bike lanes.
05:59 That way the city will certainly stay enjoyable, even with temperatures continuing to go up.
06:06 [sound of jet engine]