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Les Parisculteurs

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Ville de Paris

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Context 

Agriculture has always been present in the Ile-de-France region and at the very gates of Paris.  In this region the development of gardening crops has been important, especially in the 19th century. However, in recent decades agriculture has steadily moved away from cities.

Faced with this lack of agriculture and vegetation in cities, there has been a strong development of urban agriculture in recent years. This means agricultural or livestock production activities are now taking the form of shared gardens, green roofs, urban farms, etc.

To reconnect residents to contemporary agricultural issues and make the city green, Paris has embarked on an active policy in favor of urban agriculture through the Parisculteurs.

Every year we have an open invitation for community members to apply for their spaces to be revamped into a more agricultural friendly space.

At the origin of the project in 2013, a study by the Atelier Parisien d'Urbanisme (APUR) identified a potential of 80 hectares of roofs to be vegetated in Paris. Some of which could be subject to agricultural production. The following year, the city set up urban agriculture projects on nearly 11 hectares and launched a first round of projects on innovative greening, which testifies to the growing interest of citizens in this topic.

The founding act of Parisculteurs was the signing in 2016 of the "Objectif 100 hectares" charter. It brought together 33 Parisian companies, actors and community business owners who contributed alongside the city to the greening of Parisian buildings and the development of urban agriculture.

Since then, three annual seasons of the Parisculteurs applications for projects have been launched. The winners of the third season were selected in July 2019 and the projects are located on a larger territory thanks to a partnership with the Métropole du Grand Paris.

Project 

The aim of the Parisculteurs call for projects is to develop the place of nature in the city, bring out new farmers, create social ties, create jobs and raise awareness about eating well. The goal announced by Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris in 2014, is to achieve 100 hectares of vegetation, one third of which will be devoted to urban agriculture by 2020 in Paris.

Figure : Parisculteurs, 2020. https://www.parisculteurs.paris/fr/a-propos/lagriculture-urbaine-pourquoi/

Parisculteurs calls for projects consist of the identification and mobilization of sites, on land owned by the City of Paris or its partners, to make them available for agricultural projects led by third-party structures (associations, companies, start-ups etc.).

The cycle of a call for projects Parisculteurs includes the search for sites suitable for hosting agricultural projects, their selection, the organization of a competition to retain a structure capable of implementing a relevant project, realistic and adapted to the site, support for the preparation of the installation and assistance with the project once it is installed.

Carrying out such a program requires strong political support to bring the system to fruition: development of tools, development of technical regulations for roofs and commercial regulations for project leaders. This also supposes making sufficient resources available to respond to the strong dynamic likely to emerge and to support the winners in the implementation of sustainable and economically sound projects.

As a result, thanks to this program, more than 50 projects have seen the light of day in recent years, and just as many are under development. Paris now has more than 30 hectares of agricultural land on its territory and is a pioneer city in this area.

In addition, actions in favor of urban agriculture are not limited to the Parisculteurs program because many other actions contribute to the same objective (sustainable food plan, shared gardens, Végétalisons Paris platform, etc.)

The little more  

From the Parisculteurs adventure was born a toolbox bringing together the experience and knowledge acquired by the city of Paris and its partners in urban agriculture. It aims to provide the tools allowing any project leader to anticipate technical and regulatory issues as well as the information he will need from installation to project design. This toolbox references each subject in the form of summary sheets mentioning the detailed references and the contacts to whom to turn to set up a project.

Last modification : 24 Oct 2020.

Ville de Paris

Hôtel de Ville de Paris Place de l'Hôtel de Ville 75196 Paris cedex 04

Pariculteurs is a program of the City of Paris for urban agriculture. Every year since 2016, it has welcomed the applications for potential projects to facilitate and accelerate the installation of agricultural spaces in Paris. The city identifies areas to be landscaped - roofs, walls, basements, open spaces - and proposes their use to promote biodiversity and a return of agriculture to the city.

Contact

Ville de Paris