History Takes Place

Paris 2010

Paris is not only one of Europe’s most vibrant cities; it is also of immense historical interest. The capital of France since 987, Paris rose to global importance in the Early Modern Period. It is a place where European history is shaped as well as a centre for political debates and conflicts. Paris has seen many internal struggles and revolutions, many of which had an impact on the political developments in other countries. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the city repeatedly came under threat or siege, or was conquered by German troops.

Henry IV’s promise to make the city the royal residence led to a boom in development. Even though his grandson Louis XIV moved the court to Versailles, Paris remained the capital city, and its importance grew hand in hand with the increasingly centralized state. As France rose to become Europe’s leading political power, Paris became the political centre of the western world, superseding Rome in this role.

From the second half of the seventeenth century onwards, Paris also outflanked Rome as the cultural leader of the western hemisphere, a position it gained through political power, and which it was able to defend until the mid-twentieth century. For centuries, Paris set the standards and the tone in science, the arts, and popular culture.

Its near-mythical status as the leading metropolis has not saved Paris from internal political conflict. The city appears to be almost a prisoner within the physical boundaries set in the nineteenth century. Integration of the population in the surrounding banlieue has proved difficult. The separation of the urban centre from the periphery, a result of historical city planning, as well as social segregation and an increasing housing shortage, have for years been conspicuous problems of the Paris conurbation. Redesigning Paris as a modern metropolis is the aim of a public competition initiated by President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009
under the heading ‘Le grand Pari(s)’.