Community Gardens of Vertus, Aubervilliers
In a context of climate crisis and the collapsing of biodiversity, over 4,000 sqm of allotments were destroyed to allow for the construction of a training pool for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
These community gardens are located less than two kilometres from central Paris, in Aubervilliers, Seine-Saint-Denis, France’s most densely populated department with the fewest green spaces.
This is only the first stage of a wider planned demolition: in total, over 10,000 sqm of gardens will be replaced by a Grand Paris Express train station and a new district of hotels and offices. A defense collective for the Jardins des Vertus, made up of the gardeners whose plots are threatened by demolition, was formed to oppose the proposed plans. A struggle lasting several months began at the end of 2020. The opposition grew and gained support from the press. As demonstrations were not enough, the collective decided to occupy the gardens on 23 May 2021, and the gardens were renamed ‘Jardins à Défendre’ (in reference to the ‘Zone A Défendre’). At the same time, legal action was initiated to try and overturn the building permit. But on 2 September 2021, the Gardens were evacuated by the police to allow for the demolition to start. However, in March 2022 the court ruled in favour of the gardeners and ordered an immediate halt to the works. Despite this victory, the destroyed gardens will not be replaced, as the city council opposes it. This struggle on a local scale (the gardens are tended to by low-income residents of the neighbourhood) is linked to a wider awareness of the need to preserve liveable environments in the face of ecocidal projects.
