2024-12-23T00:19:02-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/107565442/paris-and-its-suburbs-will-join-to-become-the-m-tropole-du-grand-paris Nicholas Korody 2014-08-27T16:13:00-04:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/6z/6zn0a8valjz5yhlf.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>France has embarked on an ambitious plan to remake Paris -- and, in the process, solve its suburbs problem. On Jan. 1, 2016, Paris, along with Clichy and more than 120 of its closest suburbs, will be enfolded into the M&eacute;tropole du Grand Paris, an ambitious but still ill-defined project to create a sort of uber-city -- an overarching metropolitan government for the greater Paris area, encompassing around 7 million inhabitants and over 270 square miles.</p></em><br /><br /><p>This ambitious project will be the first of its kind in the world, one that planners hope can become a model for other cities. The Parisian suburbs &ndash; or&nbsp;<em>banlieues &ndash;&nbsp;</em>are notoriously underprivileged. Generally, Paris and its environs are markedly economically segregated: the central city is basically unaffordable to all but the very rich. Meanwhile, the suburbs &ndash;&nbsp;such as Clichy-sous-Bois (Clichy, for short)&nbsp;&ndash; tend to lack cafes, markets, train stations, and other trappings of vibrant urban life. A few years ago, Clichy and other&nbsp;poor suburbs gained notoriety after violent riots broke out.</p><p>By enfolding the suburbs and the central city into one giant M&eacute;tropole, Parisian officials hope to mitigate the dire conditions of the former. With a shared tax base, the suburbs would get much need revenue for infrastructure and other urban projects. Moreover, the plan would hopefully reduce the notorious mess of the current bureaucracy.</p><p>More importantly, the M&eacute;tropole would work in opposition to many...</p>