Paris: the city inaugurates its sustainable Olympics

Two days before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the French capital is ready for the big event. On one hand, there is the global showcase, awaited for four years and heavily emphasized by President Emmanuel Macron; on the other, the management of the metropolis and its dense network of public transport that transports millions of people every day.

Starting from the opening ceremony, which will be held on the banks of the Seine and thus for the first time in history outside a stadium, the city will undergo profound changes in its daily habits lasting from July 26 (the opening day of the event) until the closing on August 11.

City authorities have already issued new plans for traffic and public transport operations, which include – for example – the closure of several metro and RER stations (the fast trains that run inside and outside Paris) from July 18. The closures will affect central and busy stations like Concorde, Trocadéro, Châtelet, Champs–Élysées, and Alma Marceau, consequently rewriting urban mobility and the functioning of urban infrastructure.

The Summer Olympics will not only impact city infrastructure and the daily habits of Parisians but also the city in general, its economy, and its development. According to an independent study published by the Centre de droit et d’économie du sport (CDES) of the University of Limoges, a research institute specializing in the economic aspects of sports, the Olympic Games will have a significant impact on tourism, construction, and city infrastructure. During the days of the Games alone, between 2.3 and 3.1 million visitors are expected, 64% of whom will be French. Based on this estimate, the Paris Tourism Office has calculated that travelers will spend 2.6 billion euros during the Olympics.

However, another significant expense is the public investments allocated for the Games with the long-term goal of improving the quality of life for local communities. The French government and city administration have put 3 billion euros on the table, and according to the organizers’ calculations, for every euro of public money spent, there will be a multiplier effect of 3 euros in terms of economic impact. This means that investments in the city could generate a development impact of around 10 billion euros.

Eighty percent of public funding has been allocated to the redevelopment of Seine-St-Denis, one of the youngest but also poorest departments of the French capital. Here, the Olympic Village has been built, which will leave a legacy of 2,800 new apartments for 6,000 residents; and here, several stops of the Grand Paris Express have been built, the new Parisian metro considered one of the most significant sustainable mobility projects in the world.

It is no coincidence that not too far from the Olympic Village will be one of the stations of the Grand Paris Express. This working-class neighborhood, home to about 60,000 people with 70% of the population being under 45 years old, will be one of the many departments crossed and redeveloped by the new Parisian metro line. A mega project that includes the construction of a route approximately 200 kilometers long with 68 stops serving the entire suburban belt of the metropolis. The mega project was conceived at the beginning of the 2000s with the intention of decongesting the Île-de-France, i.e., the municipalities surrounding central Paris, where millions of people live. Today, after twenty years, the works are ongoing, with the Webuild Group involved in the construction of several lots of Lines 16, 15, and 14, the latter connecting Paris with Orly Airport.

Overall, it is a grandiose work aiming to contribute to the French government’s commitment to cut 27.6 million tons of harmful emissions by 2050. A principle that is being emphasized these days by the Olympic Games, organized with the intention of promoting sustainable development.