With the map of the city in hand, we were representing the role of good tourists, in Paris, a friend and I. But through the accustomed Parisian streets we came across something that caught our gaze: in the garden of the city’s trees so many flowers and vegetables had been planted. Pumpkin under this tree, bell pepper

Tomato... Who put these tiny orchards on the streets of the city? Was it the City Hall? Citizens?

 

Vegetalizer sa rue, c’est permis! It's a project launched two years ago by the Paris City Hall. (Plant your street, it's allowed! ). Under the approved innovative law, anyone has the right to plant a garden or vegetable garden anywhere in the city: street, tree gardeners, walls or roofs... The City Hall invites citizens to use imagination and to make plantations in new places. Objective: Paris “vegetation”.

 

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, who drives the project, expects that by 2020 there will be 100 hectares of this type of gardens. Anyone who wants to make plantations in public spaces must first apply for permission at the Paris City Hall. The “gardeners of public space” will receive the basic kit and planting seeds, and in return undertake to use sustainable forms of production: promoting biodiversity and avoiding the use of pesticides.

 

The promoters of urban gardens believe that it not only benefits the quality of life of the city, but also benefits relations between citizens. “With the law we give Parisians the opportunity to participate in the change towards a greener city, but in addition, the project can also help to create and strengthen relations between citizens, especially between neighbors,” said Penélope Comites, City Assistant.

 

An example of our attempt at social cohesion, the curious message we find in a small garden of a street garden:

“Neighbors: these days I will be out of vacation. I would be grateful if you could water the vegetable garden and gather the vegetables. Take and eat peacefully,” the cartelith said, with the signature of a neighbor.

 

The Paris project can be seen as a sign that big cities also have the possibility of gradually moving from gray to green. In our case there have also been similar ideas (see Delete Command article 2.552), but they have not yet been endorsed by city councils...