kernals12
Banned
Paris' municipal borders are pretty small in comparison to its contemporaries
New York City and London are home to over 8 million people each. The City of Paris is home to just over 2 million people.
When we look at population density, we see Paris' borders only cover the urban core.
London fits 15,000 people per square mile
New York fits 27,000 people
Paris fits a whopping 55,000 people
Paris' population density is close to Manhattan's population density of 66,000.
It'd be like if New York's boundaries only covered Manhattan, which they did before 1898.
Before 1968, Paris and most of its suburbs were in the department of Seine. But that year, it was broken up with Paris becoming its own department and the rest being split up into 3 new departments.
So what if instead this whole Department was just made into a new Mega-Paris?
Such a move wouldn't be unprecedented at the time. In 1965, the County of London with 3.1 million people merged with a bunch of its suburbs, creating the 8 million strong Greater London that we all know and love today.
As of 2006, the department of Seine would've had 5.5 million people, down from 5.7 when it was abolished. It had been dropping until 1999 then rising since. 5.5 million is much closer to London and New York.
With an area of 185 square miles, population density would be about 30,000 per square mile, just above New York.
It's pretty obvious that the department of Seine is a lot closer to Paris' natural boundaries than what they are now. So how would things be different?