Paris skyline could rise

Paris’s historically low-rise skyline could get a new look after the city council agreed to look at easing building height restrictions.

Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe has led a push for reconsidering height limits on certain new constructions in the capital.

City council members voted today to study new residential and office towers at six sites on Paris’s perimeter. The study will consider making exceptions to current height limits to allow residential buildings up to 164 feet high and buildings and hotels as high as 656 feet.

Conservative council members have opposed the study, saying higher buildings would hurt the city’s architectural conformity. Members of the Green Party say towers are not environmentally friendly.