2008/07/09

Ville de Paris to Allow Skyscrapers?

The ville de Paris government has decided to consider allowing skyscrapers, after a more than 30 year bad (precipitated by the Darth Vaderite Tour Montparnasse).

On one hand, such a move could, in the long run, seriously retard the attractiveness of Paris as a tourist site --- the city, especially the core, is itself a museum. On the other hand, allowing the building market to develop what the customer market seeks can only make the ville de Paris more competitive in its metropolitan region, the Ile-de-France. The ville de Paris has taken serious losses in employment in the last two decades, as companies have increasingly moved or been established in the suburbs.

However, Paris will continue to have a serious competitive disadvantage with the artificial traffic constraints that have made parts of the ville a recurring traffic jam, as traffic lanes have been taken from general traffic use, in favor of buses, which have seen virtually no material increase in ridership.

High Rises in the Ville de Paris?