This Monday at 10 am, the presentation of the redevelopment project for the city center of Nice took place, in the presence of Christian Estrosi, Deputy Mayor of Nice, and Eric Ciotti, Deputy, President of the General Council of Alpes-Maritimes. It was a concrete demonstration of what would happen to the major arteries of Nice and the neighborhoods included in the national program for the redevelopment of rundown old districts.
According to Christian Estrosi, Deputy Mayor of Nice, this major project involves a “real policy of local reconquest” and “urban enhancement.” All neighborhoods of Nice are targeted, particularly those referred to as “fragile,” and above all, this undertaking benefits all the people of Nice, as the primary objective is to offer them a better quality of life.
Five urban renovation projects have been launched in Nice. They concern: the Pasteur, Ariane, and Moulins neighborhoods, but it is the historic center of Notre-Dame, Thiers, Vernier that “attracts all the attention” of the mayor. A “neglected” historic center will benefit from the PNRQAD (National Program for the Redevelopment of Rundown Old Districts). To clarify, no less than 5,500 social housing units and 32,000 residents are involved, with a total investment of over 450 million euros. The city of Nice highlights the numerous benefits of this project which include: diversification and improvement of the housing offer, a much more pleasant living environment, the evolution of social inclusion, job creation, and the development of public facilities (such as nurseries) among others.
Concerning the PNRQAD (National Program for the Redevelopment of Rundown Old Districts), the project extends over an area of 70 hectares and is intended to “eradicate substandard housing and combat energy poverty,” “enable the return of vacant housing to the market,” and finally “restructure local shops and public spaces.” The Bensa Courtyard and Notre-Dame, part of the “heart of the city,” are precisely central to all these concerns and are part of a logical extension of the city’s core beautification program. This program, let’s recall, is ongoing, with operations already underway between Place Masséna and the Gare du Sud. The green corridor and the enhancement of the Basilica of Notre-Dame are good examples.
Eric Ciotti, Deputy-President of the General Council of Alpes Maritimes and a project partner, emphasizes that “delinquency is not in the housing estates but in the heart of the city,” establishing the historic center as the “future of Nice.”
