Editorial: Europe and the conflict between Russia and Georgia

Feature articles

Secularisation and the transformation of the religious sphere. Olivier Roy
What if, paradoxically, religion owed its current high profile to the success of secularism? Boosted as it is by globalization, secularism forces religion to separate from culture. In the process it fosters a form of fundamentalism which comes to terms with its own detachment from both territory and culture. Religion without culture: how can this ongoing change be pictured? This is the question behind La Sainte Ignorance (Holy Ignorance), Roy's new book, the introduction to which is published here.

Can Barack Obama carry the white blue-collar vote? Sylvie Laurent
Whilst media comments focus primarily on the personalities of the contenders, what about the trends in the US electorate? Who are America's grassroots voters, and particularly those white blue-collars who are likely to determine the end-result?

National representations of the past. The 20th century and the "memory wars". The Memorial association
Memorial, a Moscow-based association, focuses on the history of Soviet terror; here it launches a call in favour of a permanent forum that would bring together the various, antagonistic visions of history that still keep European nations apart, enabling them to overcome their differences. It is our duty to do what we can so that the tragic memories we share bring nations together, instead of driving wedges between them.

Realms of knowledge. A discussion with Luce Giard and Christian Jacob
Penetrating the spheres of scholarship and knowledge, whilst sidestepping the encyclopedic dream, in a bid to explore the various types of practice which, throughout history and across cultural barriers, have enabled theories and discoveries to take place: such is the rationale behind an ambitious body of work, the first volume of which will be a voyage of discovery among the locations and the communities where knowledge is produced.

A greater Paris in the works

Introduction. What is the spatial re-profiling going to look like? And what about democracy? Olivier Mongin

Boxed item: Overall outline

1. From greater Paris to metropolitan Paris: what are the plans?

Greater Paris. The thrust behind a moveable landscape. Antoine Loubière
The Greater Paris project is a gamble which brings together many political and institutional stakeholders with divergent interests (the mayor of Paris, boroughs, inter-municipal groupings, counties, the region and the State) which at the moment are in an expectant or indeed defensive mood. Beyond any partisan dimension, the power plays to be activated have been there long before president Sarkozy said a Greater Paris was desirable.

Boxed item: The driving forces of a consultative process or; the role of urban professionals. O.M.

The government of metropolitan Paris and the extended capital. Jean-Michel Roux
Following an international consultation on "A new global development project" for Greater Paris, the French Ministry of Culture has appointed six teams, each with a well-known architect at their head. But then drafting grand plans or building models falls way short of requirements. Metropolitan Paris also entails issues that have to do with institutional structures as well as economic and social development. Designers must not keep planners on the sidelines – nor, for that matter, politicians.

Starting from a regional project. An interview with François Ascher
The population of the Paris region is ten per cent rural, with forty per cent in densely populated areas (or aspiring to live there), another forty per cent contending with the uneasy compromise of detached or semi-detached housing, and the remaining ten per cent in high risers and all-too willing to move out. This is the diversity of experiences which strategic planning must contend with if, leaving aside the rigid legacy of technocracy, it is to respond to opportunities, as part of a regional grand plan that brings in Paris as well as its first- and second-tier outer fringes.

A regional anchoring for centres of excellence. An interview with Yves Lichtenberger
Commerce and academic institutions are historical determinants of the urban experience. Today, fostering centres of excellence focuses primarily on the new knowledge economy which brings together business, research and academic institutions. Against this background, what is the likely impact of the French Government's recent "Campus Plan" on France as a whole, and the Paris region in particular? Will the centres of excellence currently in the works end up standing alone on bubbles ,as it were, or will they coalesce and stimulate the metropolitan area hosting them?

2. Changing perspectives... The scales and limitations of Paris as a site

On Paris Métropole by Philippe Panerai

An unusual angle on Greater Paris. Olivier Mongin
An urban planner and architect who has worked on many projects within Paris and the region, Philippe Panerai publishes a landmark book which brings a "change in perspectives". For a fresh look on the Paris area, he steps away from a radiating, concentric approach which only manages to keep the boundaries of central Paris widening ever further.

Which Greater Paris? The scales and limitations of four potential models. Philippe Panerai
As he reviews the four potential models for a redefined Paris area, the author queries the "limitations" specific to each. At the same time, if we go for a new scale we might just as well recognise that the focus must no longer be on one single centre, and that planning could only improve the moment it promotes other centres as well, while keeping in mind the need to introduce a sense of hierarchy if the founding role of historical Paris is not to be overlooked.

Greater Paris is not Paris only made larger. An interview with Philippe Panerai
Taking an alternative look at Paris entails a fresh perspective on types of mobility and movement as well as on housing densities and formats. Therefore, this comes down to renovating urban fringes while staying away both from grand-scale schemes or tabula rasa types of approach. Paris must take a fresh look at her fringes, and these in turn must reconsider their links with the centre.

The metamorphoses of imaginary Paris

Paris no longer is a literary myth. Or, how to rekindle an imaginary Paris? Thierry Paquot
Paris has featured as the capital city of the nineteenth century, as a myth for literature, photography and the cinema, as a theme for songs, and as the capital city of culture, the arts and merry-making. What a handful! That was the past, and today the fascination has switched to New York, London and Berlin. Even the suburbs stay immune to what goes on within the Paris beltway. How can we bring back a creative and open-minded story about Paris?

3. The need for a fresh type of governance

Introduction: For a pluralistic approach to governance. Esprit

Does the Paris region lend itself well to proper governance? Philippe Estèbe
Has the minor revolution introduced by a 1999 law on co-operation between municipal authorities borne any fruit? Whilst, as any other, the Paris region takes to this type of co-operation, inadequate democracy among the new ruling elites combines with the current superposition of administrative authorities to put both governing methods and civic involvement under pressure. At the same time, inadequate democracy pervades France as a whole, not just the Paris area.

The choices before a senior regional politician. An interview with Jean-Paul Huchon
Is the region the right spatial format for a metropolis? The president of the Paris region governing council has often said so. But then the debate over Greater Paris should be an opportunity to upgrade the region's mandate, as well as its relationships with a more controlling central government and the Paris town hall. The age-old antagonism between those living around Paris and those within is becoming inconceivable.

Could metropolitan democracy survive a Greater Paris? Guy Burgel
Minor adjustments to spatial structures are a waste of time, and so is institutional reform; better to consider a genuinely exceptional modus operandi, with radical measures deriving from effective political schemes. Deadlines cannot be pushed any further, lest an unbearable dereliction of political duty sets in, and not just with regard to budget matters.

Acting as a metropolis. An interview with Pierre Mansat
The undisputed driving force behind the Metropolitan Conference launched by the Paris municipality, the deputy mayor of Paris outlines his approach. The question no longer is how you build tomorrow's metropolis, but rather, acting beyond current political and institutional conditions, to comprehend the metropolis already lying before us and to act on its own terms.

Published 2008-10-20

Original in French
© Esprit