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Paris. A Continental City. Jim Ryan. Development of Paris. Part Of European Core. The Growth of The City. 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
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Paris A Continental City Jim Ryan
The Growth of The City • 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 • 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 • 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 • 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 • 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