Clichy Batignolles

The mixed-development project allocates the entire area to different land uses. Around 200,000 sqms are allocated to residential buildings and around 150,000 sqms are designated to host offices, commercial services and shops. The project includes 38,000 sqm allocated to public facilities, including nurseries, schools and community buildings. The new Paris Courthouse and Regional Headquarters of the Judicial Police covers an area of around 120,000 sqm. The remaining surface is designated to host 10 hectares of public park and open spaces crossing the district.

Despite not being the main focus of the redevelopment project, this has positively impacted local employment by providing various public services, commercial areas, and office spaces, potentially creating 12,700 new jobs. In addition, the redevelopment of the formed railway and the construction of a new lively neighborhood increased the attractiveness of the area, providing local businesses to serve 7,500 new residents.

The project has implemented several nature-based solutions, including a 100,000 sqm public park and 16,000 sqm of green roofs. These solutions reduce pollution and mitigate the heat island effect by lowering the average temperature in the area. The provision of green areas is also targeted to improve biodiversity and promote a resilient urban ecosystem, hosting more than 500 animal species. Another important benefit coming from the reduced energy consumption for the newly built construction, and the employment of renewable resources. Buildings followed the German Passivhaus standards (considering insulation and bioclimatic design solutions). This allows to reduce building energy consumption by 15 kWh/sqm/year. The district uses renewable energy, with 35,000 sqm of photovoltaic panels generating 4,500 MWh/year, covering 40% of the district's electricity consumption. In addition, around 85% of the power employed to generate heating is produced by employing geothermal energy, reducing the annual CO2 emissions by 4,000 tons. The project also includes a smart grid funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The above-mentioned improvements helped the district to reduce its carbon and greenhouse gases emissions, while improving the efficiency of the resources employed. Besides the improvements in energy consumption and energy efficiency, the project also renewed the rainwater management system, by collecting the rainwater and avoiding discharging it through the sewage system. In addition, the project planned to build a new waste sorting center, employing an innovative vacuum waste collection system that collects and directs waste automatically to recycling centers. In addition, the automatization of waste collection will avoid the employment of waste collection vehicles, reducing their emissions. Lastly, the regeneration project is building a cargo and logistic base  located at the proximity of the highway and the railway. The center will deploy light logistics and heavy logistics (goods transportation, railways cargo deliveries etc.), employing a last-mile delivery system with electric vehicles. The main objective of this new logistic center is to reduce traffic and pollution generated by trucks, avoiding around 10,000 truck rotations per year.

The redevelopment of the district brought significant social benefits for the residents and the surrounding neighborhoods. Firstly, the project provides several urban services, assuring easy access to public services such as nurseries, gymnasiums, a daycare center and schools. The project also promotes an inclusive and equal neighborhood, with 3,400 housing units, half of which are for social housing, and the rest divided between affordable housing options (30%) and intermediate housing (20%). Lastly, the project provides spaces for cultural events and activities, building a 7-rooms cinema, theaters, and leisure and community centers. Being closely connected to the railway, the redevelopment project aimed to improve connectivity by improving the public transportation services, throught two metro lines, six bus lines, a tram line, and regional and national railways. The cargo and logistics center will reduce truck traffic by replacing last-mile delivery with electric vehicles, avoiding around 10,000 truck rotations per year in the all city. Lastly, the redevelopment improved sustainable and soft mobility by allowing pedestrian walks, bicycle paths and car sharing options, with the implementation of 30 kph zones in the entire district.

The project received several different BREEAM certifications for some of its new buildings. Lot 0103 and Lot 03 hosting retail activities and offices, respectively, received the Very Good level, while Lot 02 achieved the Excellent level. The neighborhood is also involved in the process of obtaining the ÉcoQuartier certification from the French National Government.

The redevelopment project has been entirely funded with public resources from both the National Government and the Municipality of Paris. In particular, the National Government established a Public-Private Partnership with private company ARELIA for the implementation of the Courthouse and Police Headquarters. The Municipality of Paris sold the different parcels to private developers.

The Municipality of Paris and the National Government employed public resources to finance the redevelopment initiative. The project received a further USD 4.6 million from the European Union through the CORDEES (Co-Responsibility in District Energy Efficiency & Sustainability) project to finance the development of a smart grid in the district. In addition, private developers employed equity and private resources to finance the construction in the parcels acquired.

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Image from Sergio Grazia, retrieved here.