Reconstruction of Paris: A city is turned inside out

The reconstruction of Paris in the Second Empire is probably one of the best-studied urban planning undertakings.

At that time, the capital, which was almost two-thirds larger than its old size, was given a new look in less than two decades, and this has shaped how Paris is perceived and used to this day.

This included a destruction of old substances and structures that even merciless city planners have not been able to manage in the past hundred and fifty years in order to create new streets and traffic routes, the development of new quarters, a comprehensive modernization of infrastructure, representative buildings and public facilities.

Helmut Mayer

Editor in the feuilleton, responsible for "new non-fiction".

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The cooperation of Napoleon III.

with its prefect Georges-Eugène Haussmann responsible for the conversion is well illuminated;

the intentions and models to which the emperor oriented himself are examined;

the furor, the aesthetic ideals and the administrative skill with which Haussmann promoted the

are described, as are the financial instruments used.

One knows the plans and comparatively timid-looking preparatory work since the First Empire, to which he partially attached;

the ranks of engineers/architects who got the chance – men like Alphand, Baltard, Davioud, Belgrand – have long since gained a profile, the literary obituaries of the vanished “vieux Paris” are documented, as are the later debates about Haussmann’s achievements.

Social segregation of a growing population

In the meantime, a small special library was needed to collect these studies on the emergence of the new Paris, which is still essentially what it is today.

Now, however, Esther da Costa Meyer, professor emeritus for modern architectural history in Princeton, has presented a book that incorporates the accumulated research into a clear, easily readable and therefore naturally material-rich presentation, which itself contributes further finds from the archives.

The title, “Dividing Paris”, immediately points out that the accompanying social circumstances and consequences of this urban renewal are also being kept in mind.

The social segregation of the growing population – roughly obeying a social west-east gradient, which in turn followed on from very old inequalities between the

and

– was not new, but was decisively exacerbated by Haussmann's interventions.

The new Paris was one in which the socially disadvantaged classes were increasingly separated from the more affluent urban dwellers and workers were pushed to the extended periphery.

The Commune and civil war that brought the Second Empire to an end will show the frustrations that had accumulated in a city where more than two-thirds of its residents were considered poor.

Reinstaged nature with the most modern means

An advantage of da Costa Meyer's depiction lies in its structure.

It is highly recommended to read the introductory chapter on the "President [Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte before the coup and coronation], the Emperor and the Prefect".

But anyone who is already familiar with the outline of the destruction and renewal that these two actors set in motion can proceed straight away to the following chapters.

"Requiem" is dedicated to the Paris laid down by Haussmann - he started at the Place du Carrousel, Les Halles, the Île de la Cité, Châtelet - before tracing the newly pierced "streets and boulevards".

Then it goes to infrastructure with chapters on the water supply and the new sewage system and into the vast underground of Paris before showing under the heading "Disenchanted Nature",

was worked.

With the Buttes-Chaumont, which spectacularly present nature re-enacted with the most modern means, the transition to the last section is already given, which is dedicated to the urban periphery added by the city expansion of 1860 and its declassed inhabitants.

All of these sections provide concise accounts that incorporate a wealth of insightful sources, research, and detail.

They are also supplemented by a generous, well-chosen and excellently reproduced imagery.

This results in a volume that should not be missing in a halfway ambitious library of Paris lovers.

Esther da Costa Meyer: "Dividing Paris".

Urban Renewal and Social Inequality 1852-1870.

Princeton University Press, Princeton 2022. 400 p., ill., hardcover, 48 euros.