The metropolitain: Technology, space and the creation of urban identities in fin-de-siecle Paris

The debates surrounding the building of the Paris métropolitain became a forum for the expression of political, social and cultural ideas about the identity and image of Paris in the closing decades of the nineteenth century. I intend to demonstrate this by answering a number of questions about the relationship between the metropolitan network and the city it served, between the city and the state, and between public and private commercial interests. Analyzing the evolution of the métropolitain will shed sharp new light on the structure and functioning of French urban society in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.; The first part of the thesis details the heated struggle between the city and the state for control of the métropolitain. The relationship between the politics of building the métropolitain and the politics of opposition between conservative and more progressive views of the city comes into focus by determining which central government and municipal politicians were involved and how decisions were politically motivated and “tied” to a certain vision (political, commercial or cultural) of Paris or Parisians. The second part demonstrates the centrality of the métropolitain in the development of a new identity for fin-de-siècle Paris. The actual placement, distribution and proximity of stations involved choices which provoked responses from the urban community—from cultural and intellectual groups concerned about the preservation of historical monuments and neighborhoods; business and commercial investors eager to exploit various centers of Paris; land and building owners protecting private property rights, and finally neighborhood community groups which sought closer stations. The way in which these various “publics” reacted to the m6tropolitain reflects the values, concerns and perceptions they expressed about their city and their role in that city.; I would argue that many of the issues raised above are still relevant today as the city and state continue to debate the role of the métropolitain as a means of restructuring the urban landscape and redefining urban identities: a new line, the “Météor,” is being designed to link the Opera with the eastern section of the Seine's left bank. This thesis enriches our knowledge of the history of Paris and the history of the Third Republic and their respective struggles to establish their images and identities amidst the diverse political formations and social groups exerting new power and influence in French society.