Paris overview

Paris is being reborn – and nothing symbolises that rebirth quite like CentQuatre 104, an enormous arts and media centre that has recently opened in a building that used to be home to the city's undertakers.

Suburban regeneration

CentQuatre 104 is part of an elaborate scheme to revive the north-east of Paris; in particular, an area wedged between a grim expanse of railway goods yards and the suburb of Aubervilliers. Modelled on the successful regeneration of the 13th arrondissement on the Left Bank of the Seine, the plan is to turn this previously desolate neighbourhood into a cultural hub, with a multiplex arthouse cinema not far from CentQuatre 104, as well as shops and affordable social housing.

The driving force behind all this change is Socialist mayor Bertrand Delanoë, who shows every sign of doing for Paris in the 21st century what Baron Haussmann did for it in the 19th century. Haussmann changed the face of the city by driving his monumental boulevards through its heart; Delanoë is transforming Paris by turning its gaze towards its previously neglected suburbs.

Getting around made easy

In 2006, the first tramway to be opened in Paris in nearly a century enhanced the connections between the city and its southern satellites. The plan for the north-east also includes the tram, plus a series of walkways crossing the Périphérique, the eight-lane motorway that currently marks the limits of Paris 'proper'.

Most significant of all, though, has been Delanoë's attempt to tame the traffic in Paris. In summer 2007, he launched Vélib, a free bicycle scheme that was an immediate success. Thronging with cyclists using the standard-issue grey bikes, the streets of Paris look more like Beijing than Brussels or Berlin today.

Going green

Delanoë also wants to cover the ring road and plant it with trees, a project in keeping with his attempts to turn the entire city green. Since he came to power in 2001, Paris has acquired 32 hectares of new parks and gardens, where previously it had lagged behind more extensively cultivated cities like London or Rome.

Some things never change

For all this change, however, some things stay the same – as anyone on a bike will see. Paris is a world capital built on a human scale, with an unrivalled concentration of galleries and museums all within easy reach of each other, whether you're on two wheels or two feet. It's also a remarkably diverse city, a jumble of villages really, all of them pungently, defiantly distinctive. And now they're easier to explore than ever.

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