Le Grand Paris: A major challenge for the mobility sector

For the general public, the subject of "Grand Paris" is still somewhat unclear in its scope and overall duration. 

We will try to explain it to you in a clear and detailed way in this article. You can also watch the video explaining the project.

• What is the "Grand Paris"? 
• The big changes and corresponding results 
• What impact does it have on mobility?

What is the “Grand Paris” ?

The "Grand Paris" is generally speaking, a titanic project, the largest in Europe in this case, aimed at structuring and developing the region around Paris, and whose implementation was confirmed March 6, 2013, by the new government. 

The aim of its construction is clearly to "drastically simplify its structure" in order to establish Paris and its metropolis in international competition and produce better distributed wealth. 

It is a huge project since it involves the rallying of 131 municipalities in the inner suburbs, the outer suburbs and Paris by bringing together several major players, including the Grand Paris Metropolitan Area (MGP) and the Grand Paris Express (GPE). 

The Greater Paris construction project dates back to the 1960s, when it was redrawn by Charles de Gaulle and Paul Delouvrier, but it was not until March 6, 2013 that the project was actually confirmed by the government leaders at that time. 

The big changes and corresponding results

Such an impressive project inherently involves changes and revenues of the same magnitude. Here are the most significant expectations of the construction of Greater Paris:

• Make Paris a leader among the world's largest metropolises and promote the region on a global scale 
• Create new opportunities and open new horizons  
• Meet an economic growth target: more than 60 billion euros of public revenue per year by 2030
• Improve the living conditions of the inhabitants, in particular by improving mobility throughout the region; 
• Facilitate access to essential services (stations, shops, university hubs and cultural facilities);
• Make Paris a high-performance city that consumes less energy
• Make Paris an intelligent city that cares about the environment and meets the objectives of ecological transition;
• Facilitate access to culture through new means of transport.

Overall, it is an initial investment of €35 billion that should eventually bring in €140 billion to France's gross domestic product (GDP).

What impact does it have on mobility?

Mobility is one of the most important issues in the construction of Grand Paris because if it is poorly defined, the whole project would not really make sense, since people must be able to move easily to allow an equal flow of financial resources between the different municipalities in the region. 

Obviously, the impact of this project is not singular but multiple, and the main force behind it is the Grand Paris Metropolis, the project's leading organization for these objectives: 

• the demand for travel (in terms of spatial planning, housing policy or economic development in order to influence the current modes of travel of the urban population)
• the provision of spaces (acting on the approval of local urbanisation plans, to define the place of bicycles and other self-service means of transport in the city)
• the actual planning of this new mobility (it will influence the choices related to mobility in the heart of urban area: areas with limited traffic, measures to protect the atmosphere, etc. Its actions will then contribute to the objectives of the Île-de-France urban transport plan and the atmospheric protection plan, among others.)

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