In a free bulldozer The steep routes of the Grand Paris Express*, geographer Anne Clerval and journalist Laura Wojcik uncover the massive construction site known as the “century” of the Grand Paris Express. That is 200 km of new metro lines, four automatic lines (15, 16, 17 and 18), two extensions, those of 11 and 14, and at the end of the rails 186 urban projects in progress in the 35 neighborhoods around the country. new stations to be delivered by 2025.
The prize: 84,000 new housing units and 2.5 million m2 of offices. A major undertaking to reorganize a potato city undermined by fragmented powers and territorial inequalities.
Also readThe Grand Paris Express is finally on the right track
What are the expected results?
Both authors have denounced urban planning biases but they also have a strong and detailed knowledge of the actual effects that have been recorded. With each urban reform of the Parisian metropolis, that of 1860 and then the post-war period and the new towns by Paul Delouvrier, the reformer’s impulse causes similar negative effects. Removing vulnerable and poor populations further away from new interchanges, and the luxury of new communities served by transport.
It is above all means that the authors say strongly today: a ” inhuman machines that crush the destinies of individuals ». « Input because‘public utility’ then showing his violence and his lack of attention to the individuals “. We asked Pierre Mansat, who was the deputy head of Greater Paris under Delanoë’s command, to read the book and give us his opinions.
Guillaume Malaurie: Useful work? In any case!
Pierre Mansat : Both! The book is well narrated and Anne Clerval does a useful job after her previous work Paris without the people [La découverte 2016]. This must be strongly emphasized because this work is almost unique. To my knowledge, there is no recent academic publication on Paris, its suburbs, “Grand Paris” except the work edited by Patrick Le Galès Rule the capital of Paris [Sciences Po éditions].
GM: The harshest criticism of him A wreck from Grand Paris focused on authoritarian, unilateral decisions…
PM : This is a completely relevant view. This major State project is limited to minimal consultation: [15 000 participants aux réunions de l’enquête publique sur le Grand Paris Express sur une aire métropolitaine de 17 millions d’habitants] And the methods actually show brutality in relations with residents affected by the project.
GM: We come to the second chapter of the book on “the challenges of Greater Paris in a metropolis”.
PM: Here too, the work is very detailed and is the basis for discussions that I discuss on several points. I think the challenge for the daily transport of millions of users is being underestimated. From line 14 (Paris), no major transport project has been carried out while the city and the homework relationship have changed significantly. The need for a roundabout metro line, which appeared in the Île-de-France White Paper (1989), was defended by the RATP in the early 2000s (Marsaud, Auzannet). Thanks to Christian Blanc, this project is organized, and it is the intervention of local elected officials that changes the first plan. [métro automatique, 40 km/heure, quelques gares, Roissy/Orly] in a network closely connected to the “first crown”. In my eyes, it was a real need and not a big deception for a metropolitan area that spits out 800 billion euros of GDP every year!
GM : Another main theme of the book is metropolitan management. Also, can we talk about management?
PM: There, I completely agree with the authors’ criticism. If market forces can impose themselves on this global capital it is only because there was not, there is no “project”. It was not possible at any time to open a great democratic debate about the future of the urban society and the regional and municipal elections took care of the subject, all political forces together. We must nevertheless understand that “the future sixty-eight districts have a total surface area of approximately 13,600 hectares. This represents over 16% of the Greater Paris Metropolis area and 20% of the current residents. ” But, again, their final destination (housing, equipment, offices) has not been the subject of any joint work or discussion on a metropolitan scale.
GM : You deny that it is the cities that, each in their own corner, have shown their local interest without imposing a vision of general interest on the chair- village
PM: Yes, communism is growing. And the balkanization of arrangements often leads to a lowest common denominator solution. Greater Paris Metropolis (MGP) is not a new metropolitan management. It has no capacity except to develop two municipal planning documents, a collection of requests from the municipalities. She has no resources. It serves no purpose, it is neither for good nor for evil.
We hope that Anne Clerval’s book will be used to stimulate the necessary debate about our urban future. For my part, I am trying to add to it with a text that will appear in the upcoming joint work To stop little Paris, Archity Editions.
Comments collected by Guillaume Malaurie
* Editions La Découverte. €20.50. 256p
2024-05-11 10:34:39
#Giga #Paris #minority #government #bullseye #book #Grand #Paris #Express
