La Defense is the main business district of Paris, located just outside the city. It covers 14 square km and contains 3.5 million square meters of office space, hosting 1,500 businesses and 150,000 employees. To improve transportation and reduce congestion, the French government introduced a plan to make employee commutes faster and improve the balance of residential and office space through new construction and demolishing old buildings. This includes projects like the Hermitage Plaza, which will consist of two 323 meter tall towers expected to be completed in 2016.

1. La Defense- The Paris CBD

2. La Defense - statistics 14 sq.km 3,500,000 square metres (37,700,000 sq ft) of offices . 1,500 businesses (of which 14 from the national top 20 and 15 from the global top 50) . 150,000 employees 20,000 residents 210,000 square metres (2,300,000 sq ft) of shops 2,600 hotel rooms 310,000 square metres (3,300,000 sq ft) of flagstone and sidewalk 110,000 square metres (1,200,000 sq ft) of greenery

3. La Defense - tourism T he study conducted last year (…) showed that 8.4 million tourists visiting the site each year Source http://www.ladefense.fr/

4. Solutions Introduced in La Defense La Defense has been planned such that it avoids the problems usually met in the CBDs. The main stations of local and all-country railroad were built under the ground. The A14 road is also placed in a tunnel going under the ground of the CBD. The district’s surface is almost completely free of vehicle traffic, and the vehicle traffic is isolated from the pedestrians. The French government introduced the plan ‘’La Defense 2006-2015’’

5. La Defense 2006-2015 The main targets of the plan are: Making transport of employees from different sections of Paris easier and faster. Improving the balance between the area of apartments and residences and the offices. Replacement of old buildings with new constructions; hence, less area will be needed for new constructions- the plan’s aim is 350 000 sq.meters of offices within demolition/rebuilding projects, and 500 000 sq.meters within new investments Construction of modern towers such as Hermitage Plaza (323 m. high) or Tour Generali.

6. The Transport Solutions Direct connection to the Orly airport Expansion of the metro and tram routes. The road around La Defense is to be transformed into an urban boulevard Improved access to roads

7. The La Defense Map

8. The Tunnel of La Defense The Avenue Charles de Gaulle(an extension of Champs-Elysees) after crossing the Pont Neuilly, goes directly into the Tunnel Defense, and through it is splitting into the main road A14 and the Peripherique- the road around Paris.

9. The Hermitage Plaza The Hermitage Plaza is a project of 2 towers, each 323 m. high, and 93 levels The estimated year of completion is 2016

10. The Cancelled Project- Tour Signal The Tour Signal, a project of a 301 m. high tower , was a part of the project of development of La Defense, but has been abandoned in 2010, when the EPAD’s(Public Institution for Development of La Defense) new director has declared that it is unaesthetic, and should not be constructed. The developer also has resigned from continuation of construction.

11. Thank You