Paris is the undisputed star of the Olympics 2024. France aims to stage the most sustainable Games in history, while setting a new model for future editions. Can these ambitions be realised and at what cost? Monica Pinna went to Paris to shed light on the grey areas of this global sporting event.
This edition of the Olympics has a special feature: many of the competitions take place in the city centre, close to Paris’ most iconic monuments. 95% of the infrastructure is either existing or temporary, which has kept costs down to around nine billion euros. .
The Municipality of Paris is convinced the event will still leave a huge legacy. "The Games were a great accelerator for the city", explains Pierre Rabadan, deputy mayor in charge of sports for the Municipality of Paris. “We have managed to finalise works that might have taken 10 or 15 years to achieve, in four or five years.
It enabled us to transform entire neighbourhoods.” . The Olympic village is the biggest permanent infrastructure built in Seine Saint Denis, .
It is presented as a cutting-edge eco-district with a future. It will be transformed into a new neighborhood for 6,000 residents after the Games, but apartments are struggling to be sold. The average price of 7,000 euros per square meter is just too high for Seine Saint Denis.
The area is home to key venues of the Games, including a renovated Stade de France and a . Nevertheless, sport in this district remains a luxury for its inhabitants. “Mo.