Paris and skyscrapers go together now

Bertrand Delanoe, the mayor of Paris, plans to lift the ban on skyscraper construction in the capital. Six 200-metre towers as well as an unknown number of 50-metre apartment blocks are to be constructed all around the city. The towers will accommodate shops, offices and public facilities. Some will reach the height a little under two-thirds the height of the Eiffel Tower. Construction is to be completed by 2014. The current city law postulates that all buildings constructed in Paris have to be less than 37-metres-high to preserve the historic, romantic look that is uniquely Parisian. On the other side of the story, there is a growing  shortage of business and housing space in Paris, which Mr. Delanoe is using as his major argument to overturn the ban on high-rises. Two-thirds of Parisians, however, disapprove of his plan.

Mr. Delanoe is giving Parisians a say early next year at a “citizens” conference where city-dwellers will decide what Parisian skyline should look like.

Mr. Sarkozy is definitely a man with a vision but Paris is a world treasure, and it survived fine without skyscrapers all this time. With that much history in store, of course Paris became a sort of an under-the-skies “museum” but that is also what makes Paris so special.