After numerous roadblocks and failed attempts at renovation, the city of Paris seems to have a promising jump on bringing new life to Les Halles, once one of the city's main marketplaces and now an area many Parisians completely avoid.
"Since its elegant 19th-century steel-and-glass markets were torn down in the early 1970s, failure has been the zone's leitmotiv. The so-called Forum and the landscaped gardens which replaced the 12 pavilions have never been popular, but attempts to replace them have frequently tripped up."
"The real challenge facing architects Berger and Anziutti, though, is that they are not starting from scratch: they are expected to build something new without replacing all the old."
"The razing of Les Halles some 35 years ago led first to what became known as the "black hole" of Paris, an enormous area of excavated land which scarred the city for almost a decade as arguments raged over what should be built."
"When the Forum was finally inaugurated in 1981 by the city's mayor at the time, Jacques Chirac, most construction had taken place below ground, notably with an enormous station serving the metro system and the RER regional train network and five levels of shops linked by escalators. Resembling steel-and-glass mushrooms, the buildings above the ground included a small museum and other shops."
FULL STORY: Paris try-trying again to give Les Halles a facelift
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
EV Infrastructure Booming in Suburbs, Cities Lag Behind
A lack of access to charging infrastructure is holding back EV adoption in many US cities.
Seattle Road Safety Advocates Say Transportation Levy Perpetuates Car-Centric Status Quo
Critics of a proposed $1.3 billion transportation levy say the package isn’t enough to keep up with inflation and rising costs and fails to support a shift away from car-oriented infrastructure.
Appeals Court: California Emissions Standards Upheld
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board, the nation's two most powerful environmental regulatory agencies, won an important round in federal court last week. But the emissions standards battle may not be over.
Barrett Planning Group LLC
City of Cleburne
KTUA Planning and Landscape Architecture
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
