A New Time, a New Way of Looking at Cities: Paris Pointing the Direction Once Again

President Obama has shown attentive interest in supporting the new urbanism with sustainable and livable cities as a result. He signed an order on February 19 establishing the White House Office of Urban Affairs. However, the fraction ($47 million) of the entire ($787 million) of the stimulus plan that is to be assigned to infrastructure is a very modest number to achieve the desired results. This money will go toward transit, rail, roads, bridges, with the larger portion to the highway allotment. With what is left the question remains: how can we design better cities around the states, and how can Los Angeles be affected by this new visionary idea of urbanism. Perhaps a city like Paris and their master plan may serve as an example of a forward thinking approach to a future city planning in Los Angeles..

With the Office of Urban Affairs and the stimulus package, the new administration is sending a mixed message: Yes, we are committed to re-envisioning cities, and yes, transportation and infrastructure remain status quo. This leads to questions: What model will the next urbanism take and who will design it?

Zellner coordinates the Southern California Institute for Future Initiatives (SCIFI) program at the Southern California Institute of Architecture.
The research based graduate program sponsors (with The Architect‘s Newspaper) a competition titled “A New Infrastructure: Innovative Transit Solutions for Los Angeles.” The idea has become more than before to train graduate students in disciplines like policy and planning and not merely restrict the education to design. This is a thought that will remain crucial for current and future planners as developers when assessing the direction of city planning. This idea is evident as the urban planning has become more complicated and tied in with more concern across the social, economical and environmental needs that a city is expected to deliver.. Zellner states that a closer look at the infrastructure in Los Angeles clearly derives to an understanding that the highway driven sprawl is no longer feasible. With the current rate of congestion and pollution and the effect it has on the residents of Los Angeles, the need of rebuilding and reframing the metropolis is recognized. Further, the subprime mortgages and the current economy points out the problematic situations even further by demonstrating a net outflow of people out of Los Angeles. Many just can’t afford living in Los Angeles anymore and transportation is most often an important factor. Sitting in traffic the many hours of the day is just not effective and becomes an economic issue for many families. New Urbanism model recognizes the need to redevelop urban cores, replacing them with walkable streets and transit hubs (see left), making it more efficient for people across all economical fields to be more productive.

Paris has unveiled their master plan for the city, the most ambitious vision in rebuilding the city since Napoleon III. The current economic collapse makes the plan very audacious and non-realistic, yet demonstrates a vision and forward thinking that is necessary for a change to occur. The architect Richard Rogers proposes burying the main train tracks underground, with a vast system of public parks draped over them, connecting to poor and middle-class neighborhoods. A system of subway above highways have been proposed (see below).Yet the 10 proposals for a new master plan for metropolitan Paris, which were unveiled last week, may just be the kind of bold idealism the world needs right now. The results of a nine-month study commissioned by President Nicolas Sarkozy, the proposals aim to transform Paris and its surrounding suburbs into the first sustainable “post-Kyoto city,” a reference to the treaty on climate change, with an expanded Métro system and sprawling new parks. The government has yet to say how it would raise the money to build this new city. And Mr. Sarkozy’s opponents, who have sometimes dismissed him as “President Bling-Bling,” have questioned whether this is anything more than an elaborate publicity stunt.

Yet all of the projects recognize the strong link between urban policy and social equality. In tying environmental concerns to issues of identity, they suggest ways to begin reversing the growing social divisions that mark the contemporary city. If they inspire a broader global debate on these tensions, they will already have accomplished something of significant value. It is time for Los Angeles to act before the trend driven by the negative impact of the economy where people see no other alternative to leave Los Angeles to reside in places where they find cheaper living. The policies regarding planning and development has to carry on a more sustainable approach to alleviate the hardship and burden many people are facing.

With its sprawling public space, Velib shared-bike system, a myriad of different trains and metros, this new Master Plan could be perfect for Los Angeles. The central idea of the new Parisian Master Plan was to preserve the current historic economic core, while breaking down social barriers by connecting less wealthy parts of the town to the historic core by burying the current metro tracks that separate the city into different demographics. Paris would then place even more parks over these train tracks to connect the city socially, while creating a new over-ground train line that would connect the city through sustainable means. This may perhaps be a perfect solution for Los Angeles’ urban sprawl problems. Imagine if Los Angeles city planners exchanged all freeways with parks, and established an efficient and effective train line that unites all suburbs of Los Angeles. Los Angeles would quickly become more sustainable. While this plan is not feasible, and perhaps will never happen, Los Angeles is in need of more public space, new recreational areas such as parks and community centers and more effort to create sustainable means of transportation.