Metropolitics

Working-Class Ecology Versus Olympic Urbanism

Flaminia Paddeu & translated by Oliver Waine — 2024-04-19T05:00:00Z

In Aubervilliers, north of Paris, swathes of a community garden—the Jardins Ouvriers des Vertus—have been destroyed as part of preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Flaminia Paddeu recounts the action taken by some of the Vertus gardeners and defends calls for a “right to land in the city”
Winter 2021 in Aubervilliers, in the northern inner suburbs of Paris. Behind a building site, between gardens and a few old buildings, a group of gardeners and residents with placards chant slogans such

- From the Field / Paris, Olympic Games, mobilization, urban planning, Paris region, Aubervilliers, Seine-Saint-Denis, ecology, community gardens, gardens, Greater Paris, Île-de-France

Aéroports de Paris: A Strategic Lever for the French State?

Nathalie Roseau & translated by Oliver Waine — 2021-01-26T06:00:00Z

Following growing controversy surrounding the French government's plans to privatize the Aéroports de Paris (ADP) group, Nathalie Roseau looks back at the history of this organization and questions the wisdom of such a reform.
On April 11, 2019, France's lower house of parliament, the Assemblée Nationale (National Assembly) approved a law known as PACTE (Plan d'Action pour la Croissance et la Transformation des Entreprises – Action Plan for Growth and Transformation of Enterprises), paving

- Debates / climate change, Greater Paris, airport, sustainable development, Île-de-France, ADP, France, globalization, Paris region, Paris, transport, transport policy, environment, environmental protection, economic development, territorial development, privatization

In Search of Grand Paris: Pierre Mansat on the Eve of the June 2020 Municipal Elections

Magda Maaoui & Pierre Mansat — 2020-06-26T05:00:00Z

Magda Maaoui interviews Pierre Mansat, former deputy mayor of Paris and a founding father of “le Grand Paris” (the metropolitan authority for Greater Paris), about Grand Paris and the limits of political action at the municipal level in light of the upcoming municipal elections.
Less than a week before 12 million Parisians vote in the second round of elections for their mayors and their municipal councils, which has now been delayed from March 22 to June 28 owing to the coronavirus lockdown,

- Interviews / Grand Paris, Grand Paris Express, Greater Paris, Paris region, Paris, Île-de-France, France, banlieue, suburbs, metropolitan areas, metropolitan restructuring, metropolis, territorial equality, territorial reform, governance, local governance, metropolization, coronavirus, Covid-19, public transportation, transport, mass transit, intercommunality

Aubervilliers: Portrait of a Working-Class Suburb

Anaïs Albert & translated by Oliver Waine — 2020-02-21T06:00:00Z

The republication of an early-20th‑century realist novel set in the northern Paris suburb of Aubervilliers brings the industrial towns of the pre-war era back to life—their smells, their health risks, but above all the lives of their inhabitants—offering today's readers a veritable ethnographic immersion into this working-class town.
Although today largely forgotten, except by historians of the working classes, Léon Bonneff was a major figure of social investigation in the early 20th century.

- Reviews / Aubervilliers, Paris, Greater Paris, France, Île-de-France, Paris region, industry, suburbs, banlieue, pollution, health, work, working classes, history, urban history, literature, environment, workers, blue-collar workers, manual workers

Nuits Debout Across Greater Paris: The Spread of a Political Innovation

Laurent Beauguitte & Nicolas Lambert & translated by Oliver Waine — 2019-12-20T06:00:00Z

As France experiences strikes and demonstrations in protest against pension reforms, we look back to the spring of 2016 and the Nuit Debout movement that developed almost spontaneously in opposition to a proposed shake‑up of France's labor laws. Although Place de la République in Paris was the nexus of events—and virtually the sole focus of media attention—plenty was going on elsewhere in France, especially in towns and suburbs around Paris, where local offshoots sought to redefine citizen

- From the Field / Nuit debout, mobilization, protest, politics, political participation, engagement, public space, territory, mapping, Paris region, Greater Paris, Paris, France, Île-de-France

Private Infrastructure and Urban Government: How Vélib' Veered Off Course in Paris

Maxime Huré & translated by Oliver Waine — 2019-05-17T05:00:00Z

When the city of Paris entrusted its decade-old bike-share service, Vélib', to a new provider in January 2018, multiple problems ensued. Maxime Huré looks back on the opportunities and pitfalls presented by the changes of scale and operator that this switchover entailed, and sheds light on public authorities' mistakes, misgivings, and above all their growing dependence on large, globalized firms.
The Vélib' bicycle-sharing system, launched in 2007 in partnership with French

- Debates / bicycles, mobility, transport, public transportation, self-service, urban public service, Île-de-France, Paris region, Greater Paris, Paris, privatization, public–private partnership, municipal, urban services, urban technical networks, active mobility, Vélib', bicycle-sharing, cycling

The Risk of “Foodwashing” in Calls for Innovative Urban Projects

Paula Macé Le Ficher & translated by Oliver Waine — 2019-02-22T06:00:00Z

Paula Macé Le Ficher analyzes the ways in which farming and food issues have been integrated into calls for innovative projects organized in Greater Paris, and highlights the potential these programs have for fostering new developments in the field of urban agriculture—while remaining realistic about extent to which they might transform the urban food system in the Paris region.
Since the start of the 2010s, food has emerged as an essential theme for urban projects. This rising prominence

- From the Field / food, Greater Paris, development, urban project, urban agriculture, foodwashing, calls for projects, farming, agriculture

Rendering a Redeveloped France

Alex Schafran & Giorgia Aiello & Theresa Enright & Yohann Le Moigne — 2017-06-07T06:00:00Z

As urban redevelopment projects remake the Greater Paris region, it is impossible to separate an avalanche of new investment from long histories of both multiculturalism and race-based stigmatization. But these are histories that the economic and political authors of the new Paris appear to want to erase. This essay's four authors deconstruct the renderings on billboards created to represent newly renovated banlieues, reflecting on why France's imagined future is unrepresentative of the nation's

- From the Field / France, Île-de-France, Grand Paris, Paris, suburbs, Bordeaux, Greater Paris, banlieue rouge, race, computer-aided images, multiculturalism, race and space, metropolitan restructuring, banlieue

A flat-rate travel card for the Paris region: revolution or illusion?

Marie-Hélène Massot & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-11-06T06:00:00Z

Fare “dezoning” in the Paris region – a key reform to mark the end of Jean-Paul Huchon's term as leader of Île‑de‑France regional council – came into force in September 2015. Marie-Hélène Massot takes a look at the origins of this measure and questions its relevance and its long-term sustainability.
Farewell, fare zones! For every one of the 3.8 million holders of weekly, monthly and annual travel cards in the Paris region – whether they live in Paris proper or the farthest-flung suburb – a

- Debates / Île-de-France, public transportation, mobility, transport, Greater Paris, mass transit, rapid transit, transport policy

Transport as both a function and a facilitator of metropolitan development?

Aurélien Delpirou & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-02-12T05:50:00Z

In Paris, Lyon and Marseille, the development of public transport is a central element of the metropolitan projects currently under way. However, the challenges to be tackled and the approaches adopted differ significantly from one city to another. Here, Aurélien Delpirou compares the three situations and analyses the strengths and weaknesses of their respective strategies.
As part of the major territorial shake-up presently under way in France, a new type of intermunicipal body is set to

- Essays / Île-de-France, Grand Paris, public transportation, Paris region, governance, Marseille, Paris, transport, Lyon, metropolis, Greater Paris, mass transit, rapid transit, Rhône-Alpes