A Continental City
Jim Ryan
Paris
Development of Paris
Part Of European Core
The Growth of The City
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Largest City in Europe – Population of over 11 Million in the
Greater Paris Region
Developed on an island called Ile De France on the River
Seine
Defensive Location and Bridging Point -Over 100 Km's from
coast
People moved to the walled city for safety reasons and for
communication requirements
Paris has many natural physical advantages for settlement –
Saucer-Shaped Depression/Permeable underlying Rock/Rich
Limon deposits/Good Drainage – Seine/Undulating
land/Linked to sea by Seine (Le Harve)
An important and diverse agricultural base – Cereal
Production(Ile De France) Dairy(Brie) Viticulture (Wine)
(Champagne Humide)
The Growth of Paris
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Result of these advantages is that it has become a centre for
employment
Centre of Government and provides thousands of jobs in Civil
Service
Large population increase post World War 2 due to large in
migration of people from the rest of France – Led to large
natural increase as birth rates became much higher than other
areas of France
Large growth of industrialisation at this time and along with
the increase in population led to large new suburbs growing
outwards – Urban Sprawl
Followed by large numbers of migrants coming from other
areas such as North Africa (former colonies) – Migrant
population of 1.5 Million (Problem with Integration) -Ghettos
The Growth of Paris
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The rapid growth of Paris during the latter half of the 20th
century has caused social and economic problems
Traffic Congestion/Social Deprivation in poorer suburbs/Ethnic
tensions (2004 riots)/High Cost of Housing/Urban
Sprawl/Inner City Decline/Deindustrialisation
Solution?? - Schema Directeur – To control growth of the
city/Improve housing in Suburbs/Provide more
employment/Provide Recreational Areas
8 Large Nodes built within the city boundaries in areas that
had fallen into a poor state of repair – Example of one of these
is La Défense 200,000 Residents/100,000 jobs – Important
locations for Industry and Services
They were designed to reduce commuting and improve quality
of life
La Défense
One of 8 New Nodes
developed within the City
The Growth of Paris
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The Greater Paris Region also had its problems – Large
numbers of commuters/Congestion/Environmental
Decline/The Dominance of the City restricted potential
investment in the Region
To control Urban Sprawl the Schema Directeur focused on
developing 5 New Towns (Overspill Towns) These were
created along two axes North and South of the River Seine
Examples of these towns are – Evry/Marne-la-Vallée/St.
Quentin-en-Yvelines
They each have populations of aprx. 100,000 have a modern
layout/plenty of recreation space/employment and a wide
range of services – Have helped reduce Urban Sprawl but not
completely successful in this manner
The Growth of Paris
New Towns Developed up to 100kms Outside of
Paris
The Growth of Paris
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Dominance of Paris (A Primate City) has been harmful to
other regions of France
The result has been that French National Planners have had
to try and develop policies to help other regional cities grow
They have chosen National Growth Centres such as
Marseilles/Bordeaux/Lyons/Lille – A large amount of
investment has gone into these areas to help them grow and
restrict Paris Dominance
Government Department Decentralisation has also been
implemented to help develop these growth centres
The Nord Region
A Peripheral Region diminished by the dominance of the Paris
Basin – Redevelopment of Lille has helped narrow the gulf
Success of regional policy: growth and development in the periphery
Recent regional policy has seen a growth of industry and services in the periphery