Renaturer la Ville: how Monaco returns the city to nature

On 14 July 2026 the Government of Monaco unveiled “Renaturer la Ville” (“Renaturing the City”) — a strategic vision of how one of the most densely built states in the world intends to bring nature, shade and biodiversity back into its neighbourhoods. The plan was developed jointly with the landscape practice Grant Associates and brings together five concrete transformation projects — from Avenue Princesse Grace to the seabed by the Oceanographic Museum (gouv.mc).

A response to dense development and heat

Monaco is a territory of just over two square kilometres where almost no free land remains. State Minister Christophe Mirman explained that responsible urban planning “requires taking into account challenges such as urban heat islands”, while preserving the principality’s appeal and standards of quality of life. Minister for Territorial Equipment Céline Caron-Dadjoni added that the new approach is applied “from the very start of any project” — nature is integrated into traditionally mineral public spaces without impairing their functions.

The issue is not abstract: climatologists predict that the Côte d’Azur will face significantly hotter summers in the coming decades (a detailed analysis — in the piece on the region’s climate by 2050), and Monaco’s dense urban fabric amplifies the urban heat island effect more than open coastal settlements.

Five transformation sites

The “Renaturer la Ville” documentation describes five pilot sites where the plan’s principles have already been worked out in detail:

• Avenue Princesse Grace — widened pavements, dedicated cycle lanes, new green walls and plantings, charging stations for electric taxis and buses; two-wheeler parking is planned to be moved to the Testimonio underground car park.
• Chemin des Sculptures Garden in Fontvieille — more tall trees for shade, new pedestrian routes, rest and meeting areas: the aim is “a place for walks and urban relaxation, where nature benefits both quality of life and the city’s adaptation to climate change”.
• Belgium Boulevard — Exotic Garden — Bougainvillea Square — turning the route into a green pedestrian corridor that will link neighbouring districts with shaded paths and rest areas.
• Ostend Gardens — terraced along the avenue of the same name, with views over the harbour and Monaco-Ville, a mix of exotic, tropical and Mediterranean plants, refuges for local fauna and contemporary artworks along the route.
• Le Toulonnais — the marine area at the foot of the Oceanographic Museum, where plans aim to restore conditions for Mediterranean species and create new underwater habitats, strengthening ecological connectivity between land and sea.

Nature in the city — more than aesthetics

Some of the projects work directly for biodiversity, not just for the view: underwater habitats at Le Toulonnais and the green corridors of the Exotic Garden are conceived as places for animals and plants as well as for people. A similar principle is already being applied elsewhere in the principality — for example in the Princess Antoinette Park, where Monaco is establishing a comprehensive programme to care for urban wildlife.

For now this is a vision, not a building project

The plan’s authors emphasise that the illustrations and examples “are intended to illustrate the initiative’s principles” and “do not constitute finished projects or planning solutions”. In other words, specific architectural solutions for each site still need to be finalised — currently the government’s website hosts only the strategic documents, a landscape charter and materials from four stages of studies, not working drawings.

Nevertheless, the very fact that the principality has formalised a unified approach across five sites — from the avenue by the casino to the seabed — sets a rare example for such a small and densely built territory: greening is planned here not as isolated interventions but as a coherent urban system.

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Photo: Jakub Zerdzicki / Pexels