The French capital has put in place the ‘Plan Local d’Urbanisme’, which limits the height of new buildings to 12 storeys – or 37 metres.

Despite being home to one of the world’s most iconic tall buildings – the Eiffel Tower, what else? – Paris has long fought to remain a low-rise city.

The City of Lights may have finally succeeded in that aim, having adopted a new ‘Plan Local d’Urbanisme’ (or PLU) this month, which its backers say will promote more environmentally friendly construction.

The PLU came into force after Paris’ city council voted in favour of limiting the height of new buildings to 12 storeys – or some 37 metres.

While some developers have attempted to make the French capital look more like its UK counterpart of London, the skyline of which has become more high rise in recent years, but many Parisians have rejected these planning requests.

Paris’ La Défense business district does, in fact, boast a number of skyscrapers and in the 13th and 15th arrondissements, many people call taller residential blocks home; But, in the centre of the city, it’s largely a tall building-free zone.

Certain parts of the city imposed a height limit for new buildings of 37 metres in 1977 after the construction of the controversial 209m-tall Montparnasse Tower, which was completed in 1973. That monolithic building has long been criticised by some Parisians for looking out of place – a blot on the iconic landscape.

The 1977 height limit remained in place until 2010, before being overturned by former mayor Bertrand Delanoë in favour of a limit of 180 metres for office towers and 50 metres for housing blocks.

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