In Search of Cool Green Spaces, Paris Turns to an Old Rail Line
Across the street from a block of dense office buildings in western Paris, Bernard Sokler was surrounded by trees, weeds and crickets, as he tended to a bush of purple wildflowers in a largely forgotten strip of land.
Mr. Sokler, 60, and his team look after the greenery around a set of disused train tracks that circle Paris, known as the Little Belt, that the city is pushing to revitalize as it aims to mitigate the effects of climate change. With temperatures recently soaring to as high as 95 degrees Fahrenheit, the project is intended to offer some respite for the city’s residents — though it will come at a cost to the flora and fauna that now call the tracks home.
“If you want a true nature reserve, you can’t let humans in,” said Philippe Billot, who oversees Mr. Sokler and other gardeners on part of the Little Belt as part of his work for Espaces, an environmental group that, among other things, helps take care of green spaces in the Paris region. “But,” Mr. Billot added, “Paris will be one of the worst cities in terms of global warming, so we need to open places like these.”
