Ecological awareness

The industrial age in France began around 1840, under the Second Empire, marked by an intensification of industrialization.

This period was marked by technical, social (such as the development of education) and economic innovations (for example, the emergence of department stores).

Napoleon III prioritized economic development in France.

He revolutionized credit to finance modernization projects, thus promoting industrialization.

In parallel with industrialization, Napoleon III decided to offer Parisians green spaces.

These green spaces were located at the four cardinal points of Paris

To the west, the Bois de Boulogne.

To the north, the Buttes-Chaumont park.

To the east, the Bois de Vincennes.

To the south, Montsouris park.

Adolphe Alphand, Bridges and Roads engineer, played a key role in the development of Parisian green spaces.

Adolphe Alphand, director of the Promenades and Plantations department at the Seine prefecture, transformed Paris by creating a network of squares, parks, gardens, woods and tree-lined paths.

Between 1850 and 1870, the creation or redevelopment of Paris city parks and gardens represented more than 1,830 hectares, or almost 80% of current green spaces in Paris.

Alphand also completed the intramural system of Paris by creating twenty-four squares, ensuring that they were located 30 minutes on foot from each other, thus allowing all Parisian districts to benefit from a place of local leisure.

On the main Parisian avenues, 50,000 trees have been planted in a row, spaced from each other and set back 5 meters from the facades, giving the city its current appearance.

Adolphe Alphand played a major role in the beautification of Paris and the creation of green spaces which still make the capital shine today.