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Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, “At the Moulin Rouge, The Dance”
of the city, we must consider le Grand Paris.” The project to enlarge the scope of the city comprises the inclusion of major suburbs (such as Créteil and Boulogne-Billancourt) in the city limits, the extension of existing metro lines and the addition of new routes, and sweeping increases to access of resources and opportunities for all citizens in the Parisian metropole. “Look, Paris in and of itself is small for a capital. Of course, people will move out to the banlieue; they have no choice. Behind them, they leave a city that is becoming artificial, geared toward the rich and the tourist industry. Not only businesses but also universities are being moved out, which yields a city that is becoming more and more homogenous, with fewer and fewer working-class neighborhoods.” Perhaps the brutality of the claim that “Paris is dead” is simply a hyperbolic reaction. As citizens recognize the changing contours of their city, the exaggerated nature of this assertion acts as a coping mechanism, permitting them to mourn the loss and celebrate the life of old Paris, to wallow in nostalgia and find comfort in sharing futile wishes of what will never again be. The days where jazz made the town jump and diverse characters populated the inner-city neighborhoods are gone. We must realize the new face of Paris, as the wild mutations subside and the development of the metropole instead marches forward. The city we know and love today remains powerful nevertheless. An iconic name, a setting so familiar from countless paintings, novels and films, still the home of some of the world’s greatest institutions, and again the point of
departure for myriad collaborations in arts, fashion, gastronomy and music, Paris proves its staying power. Although the city retains much of its influence from the centuries before, today we are obliged to accept that the changes that are in motion will fundamentally transform how we perceive Paris. The character of the rambunctious, diverse Ville Lumière may have passed, but if we wish to maintain the grandeur of the city we must turn our attention to new projects, the efforts to create le Grand Paris, and let bygones be bygones.