Greenery, trendy rooftops: Paris conquers its roof terraces

Can Paris's future be written from a height? Of the 128.000 roofs identified by the Paris Urban Planning Agency (Apur) in 2022, 18% are flat and therefore potentially usable.

"There is certainly a new aspiration" to provide "accessible" and "furnished" roofs for new buildings as well as for rehabilitation projects, maintains Sophie Rousset-Rouvière, general delegate of the French Professional Association for the Greening of Building Blocks and Urban Infrastructure.

Her association is co-piloting, with the main union in the waterproofing sector, the "Paris Rooftop Days", an event organized until Sunday to promote the development of roof terraces in Paris and their possibilities as "living spaces", the professional emphasizes.

Among the roofs highlighted is that of the Bastille Opera, exploited since 2018 by an urban agriculture project led by the company Topager.

In total, 2.500 m2 of roof space has been made available for growing "tomatoes, courgettes, squash, apples, potatoes, and small fruits," lists market gardener Arnaud Boudon, walking along the rows planted on one of the roof terraces of the monumental Parisian opera house.

He highlights the potential of such a development, insulating the roof of the building and promoting the development of biodiversity.

2% of Parisian roofs

Apur lists 3.500 green roofs in Paris, or 2% of the capital's roofs; a figure that is still too low according to Ms. Rousset-Rouvière, who also points out that 8% of new buildings in France are currently green.

In the case of rehabilitation projects for greening, installing photovoltaic panels or securing user access, the work involves "technical constraints" and a substantial "budget," she emphasizes, hence the efforts of the "Paris rooftop days" to justify them.

However, there is political will to make rooftop terraces useful. Emmanuel Grégoire, Socialist Party candidate for mayor of Paris, describes them as "an extraordinary source of additional space."

Perched on the roof of the Pailleron middle school in the 19th arrondissement, he was unfolding his "roof activation project" on Thursday, while behind him a ninth-grade class was busy planting lamb's lettuce in the vegetable garden.

Beyond urban agriculture, for which municipal programs already exist, the candidate envisages supporting co-ownerships and public buildings to convert their flat roofs into "play areas" or "picnic areas", for example.

"Straight to Heaven"

Claiming a "right to the sky" for citizens, the current city councilor imagines "communal, shared, and not private places of conviviality." "I think everyone understands the magic of rooftops, but today they are largely privatized."

In fact, most of the publicly accessible rooftops in the capital are currently those of trendy hotels, bars and restaurants, which take advantage of their breathtaking views to justify higher prices than elsewhere.

At Mama Shelter, a hotel chain first established in Paris in 2008, the rooftop terrace reflects "a real desire to have an outdoor space, especially in Paris," says Lou Salomé, sales manager of the establishment located in western Paris.

"It's a hit because that's what people are looking for today. We're in an office all day... Being able to get some fresh air, have a drink, eat, it immediately makes a difference," she adds.

Around ten rooftops open each year in the capital as summer approaches, estimates Paul Dufour, creator of the events platform Toi toi mon toit.

When he created his blog in 2015, the entrepreneur counted 25 rooftops open to the public in Paris, compared to "around 150" today.

An explosion in 10 years that has not escaped the attention of the organizers of the "Paris Rooftop Days" who assure that they want to promote access to rooftops "for as many people as possible," notes Sophie Rousset-Rouvière.