LE NOUVEAU GRAND PARIS IS A HUGE AMBITIOUS PROJECT

USPA NEWS - Paris, The "Ile of France", is in third place worldwide metropolitan areas, behind Tokyo and New York. The city of lights, the most visited in the world, aims to modernize and develop green buildings and especially decongest its transport and address the housing crisis in the French capital.

IS PARIS STILL THE MOST VISITED CITY IN THE WORLD ? According to the mayor of Paris, "At this stage, the consolidated figures therefore tend to keep Paris as the world tourism capital." Conversely, "le figaro magazine", published this summer, Paris is ranked 2nd in the top 5, after London and Bangkok and Singapore to Dubai, the ranking of the top destinations in the world for the third time in four years "The annual study MasterCard Global Destination Cities", published July 9, considers sightseeing and business travel. This classification determined for four years, based on the index of 132 cities. According to the study, London would receive 18.7 million international visitors in 2014, an increase of 8% compared to last year ... Paris confirms its attractiveness as a tourist and professional terms with more than 15 million visitors expected in 2014. Singapore and Dubai should receive, in turn, about 12 million visitors. Paris intends efforts via titanic project of urbanization and transport improvements to increase its attractiveness to both tourism and investors.

PARIS AND ILE DE FRANCE ------------------------------------------------------------------- When talking about Paris commonly, this implies the region "Ile de France", which includes the city of Paris and its suburbs around the city of Paris. The region is made up of eight administrative departments: Paris, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Seine-et-Marne, Val-de-Marne, Val-d'Oise and Yvelines. "Ile de France", literally means "Island of France", and is almost completely covered by the Paris metropolitan area. "Ile de France", was Created as the "District of the Paris Region" in 1961, it was renamed after the historic province of ÃŽle-de-France in 1976 when its administrative status was aligned with the other French administrative regions created in 1972. "Ile de France", is the largest, wealthiest and most populated (12 million inhabitants) of the twenty-seven administrative regions of France with a population comparable to that of the U.S. state of Ohio or to that of the Canadian province of Ontario. The "Ile de France", is in third place worldwide metropolitan areas, behind Tokyo and New York. It is also the first economic region of Europe, the 2nd European destination for foreign investment, the 1st European research center (third world) and the first tourist destination in the world with 32 million visitors a year. "Le Grand Paris" is a project serving the Paris region: it aims to improve their living and reduce regional inequalities. But it is also an issue of national significance: the Ile-de-France (Paris and suburbs) alone accounts for almost by itself a third of French GDP. Paris intends to be part of modernity marked by the emergence of "metropolises" around the world.

PRIME MINISTER WANTS PRAGMATISM FROM PROMISE TO FULFILLMENT To implement,"Le Grand Paris" project, the Prime Minister met on October an interdepartmental committee to provide an overview to the Grand Paris around concrete actions under the four main priorities: transportation, housing, economic development and governance. Manuel Valls, French Prime Minister wants to accelerate from the step of promise to fulfillment, in his very pragmatic approach around the following projects and steps. He emphasizes on the two priorities of Transportation and Housing.--------------------- 1-TRANSPORTATION "Le Grand Paris Express" will receive 32.5 billion euros will be invested in the 2015-2020 plan contract. This unprecedented financial mobilization will allow the construction of new lines of the Grand Paris Express, which with over 200 km of lines and 69 stations, will be used by 2 million passengers a day. The region will also assign 140 million in new revenues, as part of the 2015 Finance Act, for the realization of mobilization plan to modernize the existing network. Manuel Valls has decided to accelerate the timetable for the new metro lines for particular service the entrances of the country and major employment areas that are Roissy Charles de Gaulle and Orly Airports, and Saclay from Orly, from 2024. The construction of the new "Grand Paris " will generate 15,000 jobs annually during construction but mostly it will allow better efficiency of the Paris system. The actual transport system is hampered by population growth and the increase in the number of motor vehicles circulating in town. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2- HOUSING ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The housing crisis that affects the Paris region, region generates inequalities, event leading to some anachronistic situations such as some workers and / or having an income, are forced to live in their car or even in the street. This exceptional fact should represent a minority. In France, 3.6 million people are either private personal home or live in very difficult conditions (deprivation of comfort or overcrowding), or are in temporary occupancy status (hotel, caravan ...) according to the Foundation Abbé Pierre. The Prime Minister, Manuel Valls decided with housing associations the homeless, to act against casualization through housing. He recalled the important commitments this year: the end of the management thermometer emergency housing through the creation of over 6,000 additional emergency spaces, more than 6,000 places in suitable housing, 4000 places in reception centers for asylum seeker. It is essential to develop housing supply, the quality of the habitat and the balanced distribution of the offer, including social, in the Paris area. This is one of the keys to the attractiveness of the New Grand Paris. The construction of each dwelling creates 1.87 more sustainable employment. 70 000 accommodations are necessary to meet the needs of households, population growth and economic growth in Ile-de-France. This is why "Increased government intervention in favor of housing in Ile-de-France is legitimate. It must be done to support local authorities in their efforts and unlock the projects when necessary "according to the French gouvernement. (Mobilization Plan for Development and Housing)

THE OTHER STEPS OF THE GRAND PARIS PROJECT As far as the Paris transport is concerned, the French are well known for representing one of the best transit system in the world (bus, metro, RER, trains). However it faces big traffic and pollutants, by the emission of greenhouse gases of vehicles too many circulating and which congest the capital. Paris plans for this purpose to set an example by coming taxis with electric vehicles (Renault). The other three projects of Greater Paris, concern:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3- ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT It is also the first economic region of Europe, the 2nd European destination for foreign investment, the 1st European research center (third world) and the first tourist destination in the world with 32 million visitors a year.

4- GOVERNANCE------------------------------------ Create a coherent system of economic governance for the development of a brand "Grand Paris" visible and easily identifiable for economic actors (tourism, foreign investors, entrepreneurs Greater Paris). Many major projects, public or private holders of creating jobs and activities, emblematic for the Grand Paris are already committed: Campus Paris Saclay, Villages Nature's, Port Seine Metropole, Europa City, Disneyland Phase IV development of airport platforms (Roissy, Orly, Le Bourget), renewal of Defense business district, health innovation center in Every, among others. The 5-EPCI tax A large majority of elected officials converged to emphasize the need to create a metropolis EPCI with their own tax bringing together the municipalities in the dense area on 1 January 2016 and the gradual integration of skills. The Ile-de-France is the economic engine of France. However, it is also the great European metropolis where the growth rate of employment was the lowest in recent years (+ 0.1% per year). Economic dynamism must be developed along its ability to sustainably reduce its social, urban and environmental and enhance the attractiveness of the area by facilitating the establishment of foreign companies. In a word Paris wants to be the city of tomorrow, durable, creative and supportive.--------------------------- For more information see : www.gouvernement.fr, http://grandparisdeveloppement.com/, http://www.territoires.gouv.fr/Grand-Paris, http://english.iledefrance.fr/daily-action/housing, http://www.paris.fr/metropole