By 2050, two-thirds of humanity will live in cities. From 12 million in 2018, the Greater Paris region might gain another million residents by 2050, making up more than 20% of France's population. All these urban dwellers or hopefuls share the same dream: to experience a sense of freedom and self-fulfillment through interactions with others. It's in cities that revolutions are born, where religious, sexual, or cultural minorities find their voices. Cities are where the greatest artists flourish, from Paris to Vienna, or from New York to Rome. Cities act as accelerators of destinies, projects, and genius. Like Rastignac, urbanites want to live multiple lives simultaneously and expect much from the time and space of the urban environment. Today, they want everything and its opposite: jobs, culture, transport, but also nature, silence, and space. This leads to frustrations, and one might be tempted to reverse Baudelaire's famous verse: 'The shape of a city changes less rapidly, alas, than the heart of a mortal!'
The Grand Paris Express project, in a modest way, aims to contribute to the construction of a virtuous alliance of opposites, a better coexistence, in a future not so distant, 2030. Paradoxically, the 200 kilometers of railway tracks and the 68 stations rising from the ground will reshape both time and space. The additional four lines and the extension of Line 14 will allow 90% of residents in the Greater Paris area to have a station within 2 km of their homes, accessible by bike or a pleasant walk. This enhanced mobility is a massive rebalancing in a metropolis that’s too constrained: work-life balance, considering a resident spends nearly an hour a day in transit; balance in population and job distribution, with Paris being one of the densest cities globally, disconnected from its outskirts; balance in transport flows, while already 70% of journeys in the Paris area don’t pass through Paris. It's a new urban blending, healing the old social, economic, and political rifts between Paris and its suburbs.
Everything and its opposite: the urbanite is a lover of nature and fresh air. They view the Grand Paris construction site skeptically. Is it yet another unnecessary, polluting, costly project? Reassure them: the fiber concrete used for the construction is the least polluting available, and the 47 million tonnes of excavated material are transported by train or barge for recovery or recycling. Like the carbon footprint of an electric car, CO2 savings won't be immediate, but 20 years after it opens, the network will prevent nearly a million tonnes of CO2 emissions each year. Already, measures to avoid, reduce, and compensate are being implemented across the region. Ultimately, the Grand Paris will reconnect Parisians with nature, making them forget that Paris is still one of the most built-up cities, with the known impacts on heatwaves.
A new transport network also means a better quality of life: stations and trains offering perfect accessibility for individuals with disabilities, parents with strollers, vulnerable people, and seniors. It’s also better air quality on the surface due to reduced car traffic, and below ground, with train cars that emit no fine particles. The social impact is significant, with nearly 70,000 homes, a third of which are social housing, being built around the stations. These homes, often in eco-districts, help combat urban sprawl and soil depletion.
Île-de-France, already equipped with one of the most extensive rail networks worldwide, must continue to establish itself as a great urban utopia. The world's leading tourist destination, it still has inconsistencies in wealth and opportunity distribution, with shopping centers, top schools, universities, and natural areas inaccessible without the illogical necessity of a personal vehicle, whether gas or electric. The new urban time-space of the Grand Paris Express will offer liberating life scenarios, just as all the great Parisian urban projects, from Haussmann to Delouvrier, have offered to Parisians, suburbanites, people from the provinces, immigrants, students, tourists, and business professionals. To all who want everything and its opposite.
