Capacidad antioxidante de cañihua germinada y

running in the north-west direction (that is, towards pont d' Austerlitz), would be

constructed under the Quai de la Gare (an existing primary road). This is intended to allow for a reduced traffic movement on the Quai and enhance the distribution

of the local traffic between Paris 12th and 13th, and within the development area.

v i: Transversal Roads: Development proposals include the improvement and the extension of the existing main roads in the direction of the river. The objective is to integrate the development in the 13^^ Administrative District, and at the same

Public-Private Reiations in Two Major Station Redeveiopments

time, to connect the District with the rive droite through an improved road net­ work. The most prominent amongst the proposed transversal connection is the extension of Boulevard Saint Marcel to connect with the proposed pont de

Charles de Gaulle. The construction would include a 35 metre wide viaduct, that would ply over the arrival hall of the gare d' Austerlitz, to link the boulevard with the bridge.

9.7: PROJECT COST

The total project cost estimate is FFr.25,000 m illion -£2.5 billion (SEMAPA, 1993).

This would include costs for:

* the land acquisition;

* site preparation and related works; * ' civil and construction works;

* publicity and commercialisation; and * interest and loan charges.

The project would be regarded as viable if, at the end of the operations (Bruneau, 1993), Total Income - Expenditure > 0

At an interview with Madam Py-Mokrane, that was conducted by the author in Paris, in April 1993, it was revealed that the City of Paris raised a loan of FFr.1.7 million from the

capital market, to support the operation.

Part of the questions that were raised at the interview were aimed at getting to know who were the lenders and their conditions of lending. Are they private, public or semi-public institutions?. What is the role of the Caisse de Dépôt et de Consignations in the opera­ tion?. Is there any grant, and from who?.

The answers to these questions confirmed that:

Public-Private Relations In Two Major Station Redevelopments

* there are no grants; it is considered that the City of Paris -the major “Actor” is the next richest public institution after the Central Government;

* at the time of the interview most of the lending institutions (including la Caisse de

Dépôt et de Consignations and the Banks) were still extensions of the French Govemment Institutions. Their roles may well change under the proposed

Institutional reform exercise carried out by the recently elected Conservative Government.

158

public-private partnership models for funding development projects have largely replaced grant supported projects that characterised the 1970s and the early 1980s.

The project would be largely financed by the SEMAPA except for the following:

P r o je c t s F u n d in g In s titu tio n s

Bibliothèque de France Central Government

Gare d’ Austerlitz SEMAPA (c.95% of modification work)

Concrete Decking SEMAPA. c. 98%; RATP, c. 2%

The Universitv Central Government

Le Météor RATP - Régie Autonome de Transport

Parisien, and the Paris Regional Council

With regard to the payment of costs for the land acquired from the SNCF, the method adopted reflected the good cordial and close relationship between the SNCF and all the organs of the Govemment, in particular, la Ville de Paris. At the negotiations, the City of Paris agreed to pay the SNCF the minimum evaluated value on the acquired land, before the commencement of the operation, and to

pay the Company, at the end of the operation, 20% of the profit to be generated or the sum of FFr.400 million (or whichever is greater). All parties to the

agreement expected substantial increases in property values to result from the development and they wanted to pre-determine their shares in the valorisation. This is a procedure at which the SNCF is an expert institution and for which it is

Public-Private Relations In Two Major Station Redevelopments

believed to be well equipped. The stations of Montparnasse, Châtelet-Les Halles, Lyon and La Défense are good examples of such operations.

Another pertinent question that I raised was in respect of the proposed enormous office floorspace, which according to my own analysis could lead to creating a new and modern

space that could, in return, lead to the abandonment or eventual dereliction of the previ­ ous office floor space in the City. Drawing further from the experience of the Docklands, I asked the French officials: "In the event of an over supply of office floorspace what happens? “. The reply was that “maintenant on construit à I’ échelle de I' Europe”. This was further strengthened by the argument of the Director of SEMAPA, Mme. Cornil: “it is incontestable that commercial floorspace is a source of major employment; for some, it

constitutes the tertiary sector and for others, a speculative market The empty office floorspace in the Capital are parts of the old construction which are not adaptable to the standard of modern office space requirements and which, in addition, could not obtain the prime competitive market price.” (Agence France Presse-AFP, March 9,1993).

9.8: RESISTANCE/OPPOSITION FROM PRESSURE GROUPS

Between July 23 and September 6, 1991, the Ecologist and other local pressure groups took the Government of the City of Paris to the local Tribunal, filling a motion to stop the Government from carrying out the proposed development. The cores of their motion were that:

* the Square Marie Curie , a designated Site of Special and Scientific Interest (Zone Naturelle), included within the development zone of Austerlitz, can not and should not have been part of the ZAC, based on the French Planning Regulation requirements (Code de I’ Urbanisme).

* the proposal to create a green space along the Seine is unacceptable; instead, the entire river bank -2.5 km- bordering the ZAC, should be provided with a public promenade. The contention was that the notion of green space does not guarantee access to public use.

Public-Private Relatiàns In Two Major Station Redevelopments

* the greening proposals (flowers and shrubs/tree planting) lack enough or adequate provisions commensurate with the scale of the proposed development.

* the public was not adequately represented at the plenary session of the meeting of the Conseil de Paris, of 19th December 1990, that voted in favour of the establishment of the ZAC.

(Official Report of Judgement: from the Archives of the SNCF -ATM -1993)

9.81: Commission of Enquiry:

According to the Report of the earlier Commission, the Place Marie Curie, like all green sites of more than 1,000 m^, is designated as a Zone Naturelle -ND (Area of Special Character), while Article L.311-1 (Schedule 2) of the Code de I' Urbanisme provides that ‘a ZAC can only be created, through a PCS, in an Urban Area or in a designated future Urban Area/New Town’. (Le Joumal de Seine Rive Gauche, Ville de Paris, 1991)

The Commission concluded that the choice of the City Government to include the Square in the ZAC could only be possible if its status as a Zone Naturelle is first modified to that of an Urban Area (Zone Urbaine -Zone UMa).

9.82: Judgement of the Tribunal Administratif de Paris:

The tribunal, while delivering judgement on 11th March 1993, based its ruling on the fol­

lowing technical points:

* that the inclusion of the Square Marie Curie in the perimeter of the operation was inadmissible, whilst the provision for green spaces is also insufficient. In effect the Zoning Plan (Plan d’ Aménagement de Zone -PAZ) for the three development areas -Austerlitz-Tolbiac-Massèna- was declared null.

* the legal document that established the acquisition of the site for public use should have been signed by the Ministre de I’ Equipement (a Minister with similar

Public-Piivate Relations In Two Major Station Redevelopments

function of the SoSE, in Great Britain), instead, it was signed by the Prefect for the Region of Paris. In effect the document was also declared null by the tribunal.

(Official Report of Judgement: from the Archives of the SNCF -ATM-11th March 1993; see also “Le Quotidien de Paris”, 12th March 1993, p. 162.

The implication of the judgement is that work execution on the project site has to stop. A new public inspection of the development proposal has to be conducted to prepare the ground for a new decision of the Conseil de Paris, with a view to establishing a new ZAC. This, according to Le Quotidien de Paris, ‘may take one year to achieve’. The phasing of the project and the delivery dates of its various elements have equally been affected.

However, la Ville de Paris filled an Appeal the same day on the ground that;

* the development proposals provides for the planting of 3,000 plants/trees part of which a promenade covering 4 ha. would benefit from; and that

* construction work on site could continue pending the determination of the appeal.

Meanwhile, my visit to the project site, on April 23 1993, revealed that construction work on the Bibliothèque de France was fully in progress. Is this not part of, or the nucleus of the entire project?.

Fig. 9.98: W ork progress on site, April 23, 1993