The changing urban structure in and around Paris
Paris is one of the most expensive cities in the world, and real estate there has quite consistently gotten more expensive over the last few years. As I have been using the transportation system (subway & trains) since the end of elementary school, I also noticed that it has consistently become worse.
The reasons are multiple, but I believe it has a lot to do with the change in the commuting pattern (more people live further away from work because of higher real estate prices), and a lack of investment in public transportation in the past decade. Don’t get me wrong: I do acknowledge the recent improvements (renovated trains and stations), as well as the success of operations such as the Velib’ (bicycle sharing system). Commuting has even become a bit nicer since commuters are now used to being crushed in a train (although a bit less than the average in Tokyo), and they stopped complaining in favour of laughing about it (it might not be actually better, it just means that they understood have to make do with it anyway…)
It’s all part of a bigger change that is happening around Paris.
Another sign of change is in the real estate prices in the suburbs. I think my parents’ house has seen its price increase by several hundreds percent since they bought it more than 15 years ago (even corrected with inflation). Rents outside of Paris are close to those inside the Peripherique. One has to go and live really far from the center of Paris to find an affordable housing solution.
As a side effect, Paris’s districts are becoming more and more bourgeois. Most of my friends, as well as yours truly, could be assimilated to this new, middle- to upper-class, educated population with a good enough salary to afford renting an apartment in the French capital. As we move from student life to executive positions, we are now entering the “system” and participating to the development of a new Paris, one with better living areas, one where poorer populations are pushed out. Out of the 20 districts of the city, we can observe, year after year, which ones are falling to the inexorable bobo-isation. And the suburban cities closer to the centre are also undergoing the same evolution—re: my parents’ house.
The good: it helps support the development of small commercial zones, with more local shops and livelier areas. The bad: prices aren’t going down, there are still some districts to be conquered by higher prices. The ugly: what about all those who can’t afford the rent? And are we going to keep on developing huge centers such as La Défense, when obviously the transportation system isn’t strong enough to stand more commuters? How about those who already spend 3 hours a day in the overcrowded trains?
Sure, it’s not only a Parisian problem. Nevertheless, I wonder how it will be in 10 years, and what will be the outcome of the Grand Paris project.
