Growth of the world's cities

Growth of the World’s Cities Table of Contents Introduction 3 Thesis ment 3 The Developing Urban Environment 4 Challenges & Successes 5 Conclusion 6 Works Cited 7 7 Introduction The cultural heritage of Paris and chronological events of its history have played a vital role in its development as ‘ The City of Lights’. Paris is the capital city of France with a population of more than 64 millions. Historical monuments present in Paris are well known in the world for their significance for the global history and certainly for their structural uniqueness. Notably, France is a Republic nation and its legislative branch is known as Senate (New York). Thesis Statement This paper aims to provide information about the development and growth of Paris emphasizing its geographic location, its street designs, and its population growth. It also intends to study the challenges, as well as successes, that the city had to witness in past and is facing in the present scenario. The influencing factors towards the growth and development of Paris are also considered in this essay. The Developing Urban Environment The emergence of Paris traces its roots back to 4200 BC, with the settlement of the sub-tribes originated from Celtic Senones, named Parisii, in a river arc of Seine. The city was later captured by Romans but it was able to proclaim its original title as Paris after the collapse of the Roman dynasty. The location beside a river arc proved advantageous for Paris to conduct its trade affairs with other neighboring settlements. The river also benefitted the citizens with greater opportunity to travel long distances for trade, fishing as well as harvesting in the river bank, among other activities (Mohite). During the 18th century, industrialization in Paris accelerated owing to population growth and rising demands. Satisfying the need of the growing population, Paris began absorbing its neighboring towns inclusive of all urban as well as rural areas, which gradually expanded the city coverage. However, due to its deficiency in maintaining a pace with the expansion, the city streets in Paris were developed haphazardly being influenced by frequent religious, as well as political, conflicts and lack of organized governance (Mount Holyoke). It was later in the reign of Napoleon III that Barron Haussmann was invited to Paris for redesigning the city rewarding it with a proper structure. He strategically emphasized the developing of its sanitary system, its roads, as well as the mesmerizing monuments. The outcome of the design can still be observed in terms of the well-planned and beautiful interior decorations of the city and effective communication processes (France Monthly). The culture of Paris has been preserved as quite harmonious. Citizens of Paris predominantly speak French. Even though the chronological development of the urban areas in the city of Paris had been quite hazardous, today it reveals an attractive exposure which has deliberately persuaded millions of tourists from all over the world to visit it (France Monthly; Hyper Cities). Challenges & Successes In its gradual development, the city had to witness various problems related to education, rural development, imbalance in manpower, emergence of chronic diseases and epidemics. In the current scenario, one of the burning the problems faced by the government in Paris is the employment scenario (World Socialist Web Site). The population of Paris is currently increasing at a stable rate, as compared to the past, with nearly 2 million citizens in the city per se and 12 million in its suburbs (France Monthly; Hyper Cities). This reveals that the challenges are yet being witnessed by the city in terms of its political conflicts, even though the sanitary system and other related environmental problems have been mitigated substantially (World Socialist Web Site). The success of Paris can be ratified with regards to its infrastructural developments (Soppelsa). This, in turn, facilitated tourism within the city by a large extent rewarding it the image of a dream city to visit (Freytag). Conclusion The expansion of Paris took its pace since the 18th century with the infrastructural development, creation of city monuments, steady and controllable population growth along with geographic expansion. This rapid growth, however, gave rise to various issues including communication problems related to roadways and sanitary hazards. Nevertheless, today, the city is considered as one of the top destinations for tourists owing to the compelling city infrastructure and stability in terms of social and environmental factors. Works Cited France Monthly. “ Baron Haussmann and the Transformation of Paris”. Web. May 26, 2012. Paris: The Baron Haussmann, 2011. Freytag, T. “ Making a Di? erence: Tourist Practices of Repeat Visitors in the City of Paris”. Social Geographic Discussion, Vol. 4, pp. 1–25. Print. Hyper Cities. “ Paris, France”. Web. May 26, 2012. Terra Metrics, 2012. Mohite, Amar. “ History of City Planning – Paris”. Web. May 26, 2012. History and Theory of Planning, 1998. Mount Holyoke. “ Ideals: The Streets of Paris”. Web. May 26, 2012. France in the Age of Les Miserables, 2001. New York. “ Paris, France”. Web. May 26, 2012. Paris Guide, 2009. Soppelsa, Peter S. “ The Fragility of Modernity: Infrastructure and Everyday Life in Paris, 1870-1914”. Web. May 26, 2012. The University of Michigan, 2009. World Socialist Web Site. “ France: Political issues in the fight against the government’s ‘ First Job Contract’”. Web. May 25, 2012. World Socialist Web Site Editorial Board, 2006.