Regional Change and Regional Development Planning in Postwar France

Abstract

France’s efforts with respect to comprehensive regional development planning (amenagement du territoire) evolved during the postwar years primarily as a response to what was widely perceived to be an overconcentration of population and economic activity in the Paris region and a concomitant neglect of the provinces. This disequilibrium was particularly emphasized by Gravier in a dramatic and influential book that contrasted Paris with the remaining “French desert.”1 Between 1880 and 1936, the Paris region absorbed 3.3. million immigrants from the provinces; the capital tripled in size, whereas the rest of France experienced an absolute decline in population. Between 1896 and 1936, industrial employment in France as a whole increased by 3%, but it rose by 45% in the Paris region. Traditional administrative centralization in Paris was strongly reinforced by the railway system, which, beginning in the 1830s, was constructed in a politically motivated pattern that radiated from the Parisian hub so that efficient relations could be maintained between the ministries and provincial prefectures. The lack of direct transportation linkages between provincial cities provided a strong inducement for further concentration of government, business headquarters, higher education, and financial institutions in Paris.2 Between 1881 and 1975, the proportion of France’s total population accounted for by the Paris region increased from 5% to 19%.3