The ‘Stratford of Paris’ shaking up a city stuck in its ways

Paris began as a small island in the Seine and in the 2000 years or so since, the city has been growing outwards, ring by ring, each annexation saying something about the politics and economy of the age, from the first Roman wall to the 1970s ring-road, the infamous Périphérique. This four-lane road served to cement the dividing line between Paris “Intra-Muros” and the banlieues (suburbs).

These suburbs include both the more well-heeled banlieues aisés of the West, as well as the historically working-class suburbs to the northeast of the city, many of which are historically Communist-voting (the football team of Saint-Ouen, for example, is called The Red Stars).

It is this supposedly gritty corner of the Parisian metropolitan area that will house the Olympic Village and many top events in 2024. In preparation, there has been significant infrastructural regeneration in the last few years. Most significant is the ‘Grand Paris Express’, a plan to increase Metro lines in and out of the city, beginning with the current northern extension of the Line 14 Metro, which creates a pleasant and quick link to the city from Saint-Ouen and reportedly by next year from Saint-Denis further north. This line is also fully accessible for people with reduced mobility, an area of provision in which Paris is often lacking.

When thinking about Paris’ relationship to its suburbs in comparison to London, for example, the first thing that must be emphasised is the contrast in size, layout and even mentality when it comes to the relationship of the city and its suburbs.

Thanks to the Haussmann renovation of the Second Empire, the 20 arrondissements of Paris inside the ring-road has a fairly uniform look, characterised by the six-storey sandstone buildings and green-coloured details like street signs, press kiosks and Metro entrances. Step foot on the other side of the périphérique and suddenly everything changes.

In Saint-Ouen, for example, you might find tumble-down townhouses, in Pantin to the east, dubbed the “Brooklyn of Paris” it’s all warehouse conversions and tarmacked bike baths, while Saint-Denis is a hotpotch ranging from the fabulous to the prefab. The suburbs have different postcodes, different administrative structures and their own town halls. In all these senses, they are not Paris proper.

Yet  the nearby towns that form what Parisians call ‘la petite couronne’ (versus “la grande couronne” further out from the centre), are actually pretty central, certainly by London standards. Where London’s ring road, the M25, sits some 20 miles from the centre, the equivalent distance for the Périphérique is around 4 miles. If you transposed Paris Intra-Muros onto a map of London, it would only cover the centre.

Isabella is a Londoner now living in Paris with her young family, who has recently bought a home in Pantin, the suburb outside the ring-road by Paris’ 19th arrondissement. “I feel like this concept of being a hundred metres from the périphérique, from the official border of Paris, is so bizarre – suddenly the price of property dramatically changes from the price of Paris,” she said.

One of the aims of the pre-Olympics redevelopment is to soften the contrast between city and suburb. Emmanuel Blum is the Managing director of the tourism office for Plaine Commune, the conurbation that encompasses the northern suburbs around the bend of the Seine, including Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen, Aubervilliers, Île-Saint-Denis and La Courneuve.

“The area will be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the legacy of the Olympic Games. Thanks to the Games, the inhabitants are seeing their living environment and their integration into the Parisian metropolis improve,” he said.

Saint-Denis: the hub of the action

Saint-Denis itself will be one of the major hubs of the action and the site of the Olympic Village. The 80,000-capacity Stade de France will be the arena for the athletics events; it will be connected to the newly built Olympics Aquatic Centre by a new footbridge crossing the A1 Motorway (perhaps not the finest view in Paris).

Emmanuel Blum hopes the Games will offer the perfect opportunity for tourists to discover what the town has to offer old and new, such as the fabulous early Gothic Saint Denis Basilica dating from the 1100s, as well as exciting cultural projects like Zone Sensible, a verdant urban farm set to the backdrop of a high-rise towers, where both art installations and lush crops are produced – they even work with the likes of Le Meurice and Alain Ducasse, who orders his honey from here.

The conurbation authority has also been working on sprucing up the Canal Saint-Denis, the 6-kilometre stretch of water that connects the Canal de l’Ourcq in the 19th arrondissement within Paris to the suburb.

“There are so many places that I appreciate, but I have a particular affection for the Canal Saint-Denis, where the ‘Street Art Avenue’ has been developing more and more year by year – there are some completely remarkable artworks there,” said Blum. “It is also a natural link between Paris and its close suburbs.”

Frances Leech, originally from Hereford and now living and working as a baker at the exquisite Boulangerie du Square in northern Montmartre, spent two years living in Saint-Denis, before more recently moving to nearby Saint-Ouen. She is convinced of the charms of the northern suburbs.

“Most of my friends now live just outside the ring road, as of the last two years,” she said. Among her favourite spots in the area she cites the Ile Saint-Denis, an island in the bend of the Seine by the town of the same name, in particular the park there (“it’s really beautiful”), where locals relax and you can also take the “Impressionists’ Promenade” to see scenes painted by Paul Sisley.

The ‘Stratford of Paris’

Saint-Ouen, just south of Saint-Denis, is even closer into Paris proper, just bordering the top of the 18th arrondissement. It is best known for its huge flea market, Les Puces de Saint-Ouen, open four days of the week. It’s a sprawling cacophony of sounds and sights, with wares on sale spanning knock-offs to exquisite antiques.

There’s a pleasingly offbeat food and drink scene spanning the traditional haunts of the sellers, known as brocanteurs – La Terrasse des Puces for hearty fried sardines for less than €10 or L’insurgé for seasonal set menus and natural wine. In recent years, the northern industrial part of the town has been rebranded as the “St-Ouen docks” and is home to a public indoor garden named after a Kenyan environmental activist (La Serre Wangari) and a giant food court, set to open any day now.

Further east you’ll find industrial Pantin. It has traditionally been “populaire” or working-class and ethnically diverse, with sizable populations of Turkish and also North African immigrants. For Isabella, the former Londoner who has bought a flat there, it reminds her of Stratford and the area of East London that was developed in the lead-up to the London 2012 Olympics. “Within our building, there are a lot of creative types. It’s the same kind of people who were attracted to Hackney Wick and Stratford in London because they were more affordable.”

The changes in the area are linked by many to Magasins Généraux, a former 1930s docking warehouse. In 2016 it was given to prestigious advertising agency BETC rent-free on the condition that they invest in the area. Today, visitors can wander the urban farm and cultural space La Cité Fertile, ride a bike along the canal, or have Turkish pastries and tea at Le Serail on the high street.

Concerns of gentrification, and delays

While this is an exciting time for this part of the ‘petite couronne’,  the rapid development of the area has not been without its criticisms. Beyond more general concerns around gentrification and rising property prices, locals have had to put up with long-term building sites and the noise and disruption that entails.

The French press has also reported that the government is coordinating the removal of homeless people to “temporary regional accommodation facilities” outside of the capital in order to free up beds in lower-end hotels during the Games. This includes groups of immigrants and asylum-seekers who live homeless in the northern suburbs. Similar outfluxes reportedly took place before the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2016 Games in Rio.

Meanwhile the strike movement whose slogan “Pas de papiers, pas de JO” (“no papers, no Olympics”) has been gaining ground and publicity with its demands for regularisation for undocumented migrants working on the pre-Games building sites.

With reports of delays in delivery, many locals also fear that after all the effort, the works will not be finished on time. Emmanuel Blum, the director of Plaine Commune is confident that that won’t be the case.

“I have no doubt about our ability to meet the challenge of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The coming period will be intense, but is set to end with a moment of celebration, exchange and shared enthusiasm. The Games are a unique opportunity to reinforce the pride of all the inhabitants of this area.”

In 2024, this corner of the Paris metropolitan area is sure to be more sought-out by visitors than it ever has been before. The soon-to-open H Hotels Paris Pleyel, with 697 modern rooms, is the first opening of its kind in Saint-Denis, while the longer established MOB Hotel will provide a boutique option in Saint Ouen. Airbnb, an official sponsor of the Games, has also been encouraging residents of the northern suburbs to list their homes.

Paris has sometimes been criticised for being a “museum city”, living off its glory days in the 20th century and stuck in its ways. Head out to Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen or Pantin , and you may just discover what Paris’s next century will be all about. Imagine the satisfaction, decades from now, when you can say: “I remember when this was considered a suburb”.