Following our involvement since 2017 in the Python-Duvernois regeneration masterplan in Paris, OKRA together with ZCCS urbanistes has been appointed to take the masterplan for the 15-ha residential area in Paris’ Green Belt to a next step.
The municipality of Paris has been working on a renovation programme for Python-Duvernois since 2012. Located in the 20th arrondissement between Porte de Bagnolet and Porte de Montreuil, Python-Duvernois is a 15-hectare residential area in need of urban renovation. Its inhabitants suffer from severe social deprivation, poor quality of public space, poor air quality and noise pollution from the Paris ring road.
The masterplan aims to reconnect the district with its surroundings, offer a new urban façade along the ring road, provide a more extensive range of uses and activities and create a healthy urban environment. The area will be transformed into a ‘park district’, a healthy and traffic-calmed neighbourhood with an extensive network of green spaces, supporting active mobility and offering spaces to relax, exercise and connect with nature.
Green urban biotopes
The area is part of the large green belt around Paris and forms an important link in the ecological green-blue structure that needs to be strengthened on a metropolitan scale. The design will reinforce the structure and amount of green spaces in the area, enhances biodiversity and introduces a diversified range of urban biotopes. Softening of the streetscape and developing sustainable urban drainage are key design principles in the climate-adaptive approach.
Other projects in France
OKRA is working for several years at various locations in France on urban design and public space projects, amongst others the Rouen railway station area, the historic city centre of Dax, and the memorial park in Bobigny.