The candidate in the Nice-4 district, Jean Moucheboeuf, and municipal councilor Philippe Vardon held a press conference the day before yesterday. They wanted to denounce the excessive construction. According to them, it would impact “the quality of life and disfigure the Nice identity.” There would be a risk of “pauperization” and “insecurity” with these new buildings.
“Concreting produces 500 kilos of CO2 emissions per ton of concrete.” This is the observation made by candidate Jean Moucheboeuf. He also adds that it represents “18 kilos of sand needed per person per day.” According to their figures, this represents about twenty projects that are underway or have already been completed.
A disappointing outcome
The two municipal councilors portray a result that does not live up to the residents’ expectations. The COVID-19 crisis brought these projects to a halt, only for them to start up again even more energetically afterward. “Three houses with gardens are going to be demolished and replaced by an apartment building.”
“It’s just not possible. For the past 4-5 months, we’ve seen projects springing up everywhere, cranes appearing, and massive concreting. Unfortunately, it’s a villa with a garden or a house that is being destroyed to make way for buildings,” laments Jean Moucheboeuf. For them, it’s “pseudo greening by the Nice municipality. The city hall cannot shirk responsibility by pulling out its green corridor trump card.”
And concrete measures
Three proposals are on the table. Among them: the outright banning of new constructions of buildings taller than two floors, “if a two-story house is torn down.” But how to bring this idea to fruition? By modifying the PLUM (Local Metropolitan Urban Plan) to make it official.
They also call for “green roofing,” which according to them would allow for “a 25% reduction in air conditioning,” based on a [study](https://www.nice.fr/uploads/media/default/0001/02/Etude_sur_les_toitures_vegetalisees_1.pdf) by the Ernst & Young firm in collaboration with the Eco-Med firm for the city of Nice conducted in 2009.
Finally, they are demanding the “conversion of office buildings into housing” to occupy these buildings that have a hard time finding takers, despite the city’s efforts to attract entrepreneurs and large companies to Nice.
