Speaker A
Paris, France.
Explore Paris beyond its iconic landmarks, focusing on urban renewal, community projects, and the city's evolving social fabric.
Key Takeaways
- Paris is undergoing an urban revolution focused on inclusivity and community resilience.
- Community-driven projects like Les Grands Voisins transform neglected spaces into vibrant social hubs.
- Urban design and traffic calming are critical to improving quality of life in dense cities.
- Social integration and mutual support can overcome initial neighborhood resistance.
- Cultural identity and everyday life coexist in Paris beyond its famous landmarks.
Summary
- The episode explores Paris as a city of history, revolution, and ongoing urban transformation.
- The host and their children experience Paris beyond tourist spots, highlighting everyday life and community efforts.
- Paris is described as compact and constantly evolving, with a focus on friendly urban living despite recent challenges.
- The Bastille neighborhood is featured as a symbol of gentrification balanced with a village-like atmosphere.
- Cedric Klapisch, a Parisian filmmaker, shares insights on the city's scale and resilience after terror attacks.
- The episode examines Paris's complex bicycle infrastructure and traffic calming measures.
- Les Grands Voisins, a former hospital turned community space, is showcased as a model of social innovation.
- The project supports homeless people and refugees while fostering a diverse, volunteer-driven community.
- Local residents initially feared the project but now embrace it as a positive neighborhood asset.
- The initiative promotes dignity and empowerment by linking volunteer work to access to services and goods.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker B
Look at the ship, the barge.
Speaker B
What's the name on the back, Sandra?
Speaker B
Sandra the barge, it could be like a children's book.
Speaker B
What do you think about Paris, Lulu?
Speaker C
It's a nice city and there's too many cars.
Speaker D
I think it's funny how grandpa only honks in the horn maybe five times a year.
Speaker D
Where the taxi drivers maybe do it 100 times in one drive.
Speaker B
Paris is a storied city, more than most others in the world.
Speaker B
It's a city that's synonymous with inspiring change.
Speaker B
Fighting for it, demanding it, forcing it, this is the birthplace of revolutions and right now a new revolution is underway, an urban revolution.
Speaker B
I brought my kids here to embed ourselves right here in the heart of this rebel metropolis.
Speaker E
France's mythical capital has been immortalized in countless novels and films.
Speaker E
Alphaville, Jules et Jim, Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, Belle de Jour, Paris is a city that allows you to dream, think and feel while drinking wine.
Speaker E
But beyond the glittering lights of the Eiffel Tower is a hidden Paris, one of struggle and hard work, one of solidarity and inventiveness.
Speaker E
And that's the Paris I've come to explore with my two city savvy kids, Lulu Sophia and Felix.
Speaker E
The life-sized Paris, far from the world-class restaurants and the high-end boutiques of the Champs-Élysées.
Speaker E
First stop, a corner cafe in the Bastille neighborhood, this is where Parisian filmmaker Cedric Klapisch shot his landmark film.
Speaker E
When the cat's away, back in the mid-90s.
Speaker E
Of course, Bastille hasn't escaped the clutches of the city's gentrification.
Speaker E
But Cedric's neighborhood still has that village-like feel he loves so much.
Speaker F
Monsieur.
Speaker F
Klapisch.
Speaker G
Bonjour.
Speaker F
Bonjour.
Speaker G
For me, Paris has the perfect scale.
Speaker G
It's 10 kilometers, you know, from the north to the south.
Speaker F
It's only 10?
Speaker G
Only 10, yeah.
Speaker F
Peripherique to Peripherique.
Speaker G
Yeah, and I think it's probably 12 east to west.
Speaker F
Okay, I didn't know that it was that little.
Speaker G
Yeah, okay.
Speaker G
So, it's small.
Speaker G
And it's crazy because I'm 55 and I've always lived here.
Speaker G
And I don't know everything in Paris.
Speaker G
You know, it's always a city that I need to discover every day, every month.
Speaker G
I think Paris is more friendly today.
Speaker F
Despite all of the, uh, the terror attacks.
Speaker G
Yeah, because I think it brought everyone together.
Speaker G
Much more than before.
Speaker F
After the attacks on Bataclan and the other places, we heard internationally that, you know, the next day or a couple days later.
Speaker F
Parisians went out and demonstratively sat at the cafe.
Speaker F
And, uh, maybe we're a little bit nervous inside.
Speaker F
But it was that true, I mean, did people really say, no, we're not going to take away the streets?
Speaker G
That's what we're doing today.
Speaker F
Okay.
Speaker G
So, we had to say that we have to defend our way of life.
Speaker G
We want to have drinks, we want to drink wine, we want to drink beer.
Speaker G
Even if other people don't like that.
Speaker G
We want to enjoy life.
Speaker G
And you know, I went there at Place de la Republique.
Speaker G
4 million Parisian were there.
Speaker G
And it's, you can't imagine what it is to meet 4 million people in the street.
Speaker G
It's, it was very strong, it's probably one of the strongest thing I've, I've ever lived.
Speaker G
And, uh, it really relieved me from saying that, okay, we live in a dangerous place.
Speaker G
We live in a place where people like to be peaceful.
Speaker D
Felix, if you feel freaky, get behind me, right?
Speaker C
Yeah, I will.
Speaker C
Careful.
Speaker D
So, Felix, you're a kid, you ride on the bicycle infrastructure of Copenhagen.
Speaker D
What's it like for you to ride here now?
Speaker C
Kind of spooky.
Speaker D
Spooky?
Speaker C
And confusing.
Speaker D
Whoa.
Speaker D
I'm in what's technically a cycle lane.
Speaker D
This is contraflow, you can cycle one way with the cars.
Speaker D
But you're actually allowed to cycle the other way as well.
Speaker D
We're traffic calming.
Speaker D
We're actually doing something good for the city of Paris.
Speaker D
We're calming the traffic.
Speaker D
Look at this intersection.
Speaker D
You got cars, you got bikes, you got 18 million pedestrians, you know.
Speaker D
Somebody's out of place here.
Speaker C
Yeah.
Speaker D
Hello.
Speaker H
Hello.
Speaker D
Nice to see you.
Speaker H
Welcome to the Grand Voisins.
Speaker D
Thank you.
Speaker H
This used to be a hospital.
Speaker H
500,000 Parisian who were born here.
Speaker D
Oh, really?
Speaker H
Yeah.
Speaker D
Like half a million.
Speaker H
Almost.
Speaker D
Half a million.
Speaker H
Absolutely, it was one of the main maternity.
Speaker D
And we really are in the middle of Paris.
Speaker D
We rode our bikes here.
Speaker D
And I mean, and all of a sudden you turn to the right and you're in this huge almost like a park in a way.
Speaker D
So, it's so massive.
Speaker H
What's the perception of the people living in the neighborhood?
Speaker H
Are they like awesome or are they going, no, why do you have to do it here?
Speaker I
Well, it's very mixed.
Speaker I
I mean, when we arrived, people didn't know us.
Speaker I
And people were very much afraid.
Speaker I
Uh, of us creating a bubble of poverty in the middle of Paris.
Speaker I
They were afraid of, uh, drug abuse, of people who didn't behave.
Speaker I
Of, uh, the price of their housing going down.
Speaker I
Uh, so we had to discuss a lot with the neighborhood.
Speaker I
Now, today, it's working very well.
Speaker I
When we do markets, food market or whatever, a lot of people come from the surrounding.
Speaker D
Okay.
Speaker I
So, over the last year and a half, uh, the general feeling around us has improved a lot.
Speaker D
William.
Speaker I
Hi.
Speaker D
Hello.
Speaker I
Hello.
Speaker D
Nice to see you.
Speaker I
Welcome to the Grand Voisins.
Speaker D
Thank you.
Speaker I
For years, this 365,000 square foot space was left for dead.
Speaker I
Right in the heart of magnificent Paris.
Speaker I
And this made no sense to William Dufourcq.
Speaker I
So, with his friends, he took over.
Speaker I
He transformed the place into a vibrant community they call Les Grands Voisins, the good neighbors.
Speaker I
The project now hosts a shelter for the homeless that accommodates more than 600 people.
Speaker I
30% of which are undocumented refugees.
Speaker I
But also, a restaurant, a brewery, pop-up markets, artist studios, startups, and even an urban campground.
Speaker I
From the hip Parisian to the homeless, people from all walks of life come together here every day.
Speaker D
See the chickens?
Speaker D
What's the perception of the people living in the neighborhood?
Speaker D
Are they like awesome or are they going, no, why do you have to do it here?
Speaker I
Well, it's very mixed.
Speaker I
I mean, when we arrived, people didn't know us.
Speaker I
And people were very much afraid.
Speaker I
Uh, of us creating a bubble of poverty in the middle of Paris.
Speaker I
They were afraid of, uh, drug abuse, of people who didn't behave.
Speaker I
Of, uh, the price of their housing going down.
Speaker I
Uh, so we had to discuss a lot with the neighborhood.
Speaker I
Now, today, it's working very well.
Speaker I
When we do markets, food market or whatever, a lot of people come from the surrounding.
Speaker D
Okay.
Speaker I
So, over the last year and a half, uh, the general feeling around us has improved a lot.
Speaker D
What's amazing here is that the project isn't just about sharing space.
Speaker D
It's more about creating a deep sense of community.
Speaker D
Everyone here, from the undocumented refugee to the struggling artist, has to pitch in their share of volunteer work.
Speaker D
The people living here who don't have the money to go and buy food in the restaurant.
Speaker D
They work an hour and a half, they can get a meal.
Speaker D
We don't want the general public to be able to go and eat in the restaurant.
Speaker D
And then for the people which we are housing, for them just to stay in the centers and eat the food which we are providing them.
Speaker D
The idea is for them to be able to change.
Speaker D
Go and eat there so they can get back in a position as a consumer.
Speaker D
For one hour, they can get pants.
Speaker D
You can get a phone.
Speaker D
For 15 minutes, you can get a T-shirt.
Speaker D
You can get a bag.
Speaker D
In the restaurant and the lingerie, let's say one hour.
Speaker D
You can have a cake.
Speaker D
Generally, one hour is equivalent to 10 euros.
Speaker D
Okay.
Speaker D
If you look at the European average, that's a fair, totally fair price.
Speaker D
Absolutely.
Speaker D
He said five hours of work for a bag of chips.
Speaker D
Is that okay?
Speaker D
Yeah.
Speaker D
All right.
Speaker D
It's worth a coffee.
Speaker D
It's a coffee.
Speaker D
When it's really, really hot, you can have a quick little shower to cool off, right?
Speaker D
Yeah.
Speaker D
Oh.
Speaker C
Oh, it's warm.
Speaker D
That was cold.
Speaker D
All right, shut up and brush your teeth.
Speaker D
Let's go.
Speaker D
Good evening.
Speaker D
Good evening.
Speaker D
This has been an amazing experience here at Les Grands Voisins, the Grand Neighbors.
Speaker D
These old hospital grounds converted by many, many passionate people into something quite spectacular.
Speaker D
It's an amazing experience in the heart of Paris in a densely populated neighborhood.
Speaker D
We're camping, but we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.
Speaker D
So, it's time to say good night.
Speaker C
Good night.
Speaker D
Good night.
Speaker D
It's the same boat on the very first day.
Speaker D
It's Sandra.
Speaker C
Sandra.
Speaker D
Sandra.
Speaker C
Sandra.
Speaker D
I love you.
Speaker D
What about you, Felix?
Speaker D
What about the people that we've seen on the street and the people that we've met and all the, the projects that we've been visiting?
Speaker C
I thought it was, I thought it was very cool that people was doing that.
Speaker C
And I could, I also thought about why we, why we weren't doing the same thing with the harbor in Copenhagen.
Speaker C
With transporting vegetables and fruits.
Speaker D
And you said to me, Daddy, I want to move to Paris.
Speaker D
I want to live here at some point.
Speaker D
Why would you want to move here?
Speaker C
It's about how you can live on the street and you know everybody, you go down to your local cafe and have a coffee in the morning.
Speaker C
Eating a croissant.
Speaker C
And just knowing everybody and so that local feeling on on whatever street you're living on.
Speaker D
Yeah.
Speaker D
And the girls?
Speaker C
Yeah, they're also kind of nice.
Speaker D
Okay.
Speaker D
What do you remember most from the last five days in Paris?
Speaker C
The family.
Speaker D
The family?
Speaker C
And the football.
Speaker D
And the football.
Speaker D
Because the winning goal, right?
Speaker D
Felix to Daddy and yeah, that's all we're going to remember from this trip.
Speaker D
We came to Paris in search of an urban revolution.
Speaker D
We've met inspiring urban citizens, like in many cities around the world.
Speaker D
We're trying to force, trying to inspire change.
Speaker D
And here they're rallying against the greatest hurdle, bureaucracy and an elitist political system.
Speaker D
This city is a survivor, it's a fighter.
Speaker D
But right now it is balanced delicately on a razor's edge between doing all the right things in the most epic and visionary way.
Speaker D
A way that will set the standard for cities around the world for the next 100 years.
Speaker D
And falling under the wheels of extreme gentrification.
Speaker D
Turning this place into a playground for the rich and famous and a glossy amusement park for tourists.
Speaker D
This is now, this is where Paris must decide its future.
Topics:Parisurban renewalcommunity projectsLes Grands Voisinssocial innovationbicycle infrastructuregentrificationurban revolutionhomelessnesstraffic calming
