The Industrial Revolution in the 19th century brought social and urban changes to France. The capital, Paris, was itself immersed in a great urban renovation as consequence of the changes in economic, social and cultural conditions of the time.
The fast economic growth of the city required new workers that came from the countryside in search of employment. The population of Paris increased in 3 million inhabitants from 1836 to 1904. However, the new inhabitants were poor and settled in cheap and unhealthy housing, this situation created new social problems in addition to the existing ones mostly caused by the lack of an adequate sewer system and hygiene in the city. Paris was a crowded and unhealthy city covered with mud. This difficult situation was smartly well represented in the literature of the time, Victor Hugo wrote “Les Miserables” in 1862 and Eugene Sue “Les Mysteres de Paris”. Both of them accurately portrayed the city in the middle of the traumatic political and social upheaval of the 19th century.
The political change came from Napoleon III when in 1852 and after a coup d’état he proclaimed the birth of the 2nd Empire. Due to the fact that the new regime needed to consolidate its power and ameliorate their image in France and in Europe, Napoleon decided to start an ambitious urban renewal project to make of Paris a true capital in keeping with his new imperial ambitions and in placing it as the model of the modern city in the world. The feasibility of the transformation was possible because being a dictatorial regime there was no opposition.
Napoleon commissioned to George Eugene Hausmmann, a civic planner, the management of the urban renewal project. Haussmann had the task to “modernize” Paris answering not only Napoleon’s imperial ambitions but taking in mind urban and traffic questions, hygiene issues, and the demands of the new healthy class, the bourgeoisies.
His plan for the new Paris followed the logic of axes with long and wide tree-lined avenues that connected key points of the city with the aim of improving urban circulation and as a mean of restructuring certain sections of the city, such as the Rue Rivoli or the place the Chatelet. As part of the traffic improvement, he was also conscious that the train stations where the new doors of cities and besides connecting them by long avenues he also created new corridors that linked them with downtown.
This rectilinear and controlled pattern on plan was pushed farther to the façade of the buildings by imposing uniform height and a design that accentuated the horizontal character of them. The new buildings along the streets came with shops, and new housing to satisfy the needs of the bourgeoisies. As consequence, Haussmann demolished the medieval lots and forced the working class to move to the periphery of the city to be able to accommodate the new buildings.
He also put a lot of emphasis in hygiene and sanitation, and his ideas were reflected in the project. The city had problems of hygiene, crime and diseases due to the narrow and dark streets, to the lack of paving and to the deficient sewer system. Haussmann’s project included the widening of streets, the displacement of prostitutes and street vendors from the main boulevards, the creation of a sewer system to avoid choleric water all over the narrow streets, a big improvement in water supply, and the paving of streets with the differentiation between sidewalks and roads among other projects.
It is important to mention the born of a new wealthy social class during the 19th century, the bourgeoisies. Soon, they increased their power and influence by replacing the old aristocracy, and as new riches, they started to demand new places where to live and socialize. Haussmann provided them with a great number of equipments and facilities as well as green areas where they could develop their leisure time. Some examples are the Opera, different theaters, and les grands magazines (shopping centers). The green areas were an important element in the renovation of Paris, some of them were renovated, like le Bois de Boulogne and Le Champs Elysees and other were created new, such as le Bois de Vincennes and le Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. All of them, building and green areas, were representative elements of the new Paris and they occupied a preferred location inside the city by being the focal point of the main boulevards. They were one of the symbols of modernization of Paris.
Haussmann’s plan supposed a completely transformation of the city of Paris. It was the first time that there was a global vision for the city, until then, it was growing by developing small nodes, mostly housing with a square in the center, which were not connected among each other. However, most of the renovation did not occurred during Hausmann’s time, but after his destitution as planner and even after his death. The urban renewal project of Paris during the Second Empire supposed the transition from a medieval to a modern city, by answering the needs of traffic, hygiene and social life of its inhabitants. Paris became a model for future cities around the world, as for example Chicago during Daniel Burnham’s time, and New York during Moses.
