The so-called eco-quarter is built primarily from reused materials, low-carbon timber, and glass, and powered by geothermal and solar energy. In addition to economically and environmentally sustainable lodging, the village will give locals access to 17 acres of green space and new bike paths, house offices, approximately 30 different shops, a daycare center, and a student residence.
On top of that, the influx of cash from both public and private investment has allowed for the renovation of two local schools in Saint-Ouen and the refurbishment of existing pools throughout neighboring towns. In addition to the new Aquatics Center, two temporary pools used for Olympic competitions and warm-ups at the Paris La Défense Arena will be relocated to Seine-Saint-Denis in the months following the Games. These basins, composed of a modular wall system using stainless steel and a white laminated PVC surface, will be repurposed for residents, sports clubs, and students.
“Concretely, this means more infrastructure in an area of France with the fewest facilities for the community, and where 50% of children entering secondary school don’t know how to swim,” says Tania Braga, who leads the IOC legacy department. With support from Paris 2024, the French Ministry of National Education has also launched a 30-minute daily exercise program in over 1,000 primary schools throughout France.
Karim Bouamrane, the mayor of Saint-Ouen, sees the Games as an accelerator for change that would have otherwise taken decades to achieve. “Seine-Saint-Denis is the poorest department in France, chronically under-resourced in terms of public services and sports infrastructure, with difficulties in giving hope to new generations; the Olympics strengthens our ability to nurture that hope.”
The Olympic investment in the neighborhoods has indirectly attracted commercial development to the area as well: Tesla moved its French headquarters to Saint-Ouen, Tony Parker’s Adéquat Academy will open an outpost nearby, and the new Saint-Ouen Grand Paris Nord teaching hospital plans to welcome its first students by 2028. H4 Hotel Wyndham Paris Pleyel Resort, a four-star, 700-room behemoth located in Seine-Saint-Denis’ tallest skyscraper, la Tour Pleyel, opens July 8 with a rooftop bar, pool, and 16 different event rooms, targeting business travelers and corporate conventions.
Saint-Denis’ mayor Mathieu Hanotin sees the hotel project as one arm of a broader municipal strategy to put the Pleyel district, as it has been nicknamed, on the tourism map. “With this new positioning, the arrival of [new] metros and the Olympics, we can take our place in the Paris ecosystem,” Hanotin told Le Monde.
Can Paris pull off the most sustainable olympics in history?
The local developments, alongside the Games’ broader sustainability ambitions, which include cutting its carbon emissions in half compared to past editions in London or Rio, all sounds great on paper. However, whether or not Paris 2024 will live up to the ambitious title of the most sustainable Olympics in history will depend mainly on what happens when all the delegations return home.
