Paris is an age-old city. Over time It has been considerably renewed and continues to be so.
There are approximately 11,200 buildings that were built before 1800 (under 9% of the building stock). Some of these date from the 17th century and for the most part are in central districts. There are many more in areas where Haussmann demolished but sparsely, in the Palais-Royal and Marais areas (42% of buildings in central Paris), in the Saint-Séverin neighbourhood and on the slopes of Sainte-Geneviève hill (26% in the 5th district), and in the Faubourg Saint-Germain (31% of the buildings in the 6th and 13% in the 7th district).
However, in the many areas where extensive demolition did take place and Haussmannian construction sprang up in the 19th century, on Île de la Cité, in the Halles and Bourse neighbourhoods and also in the Faubourgs Saint-Martin, Saint-Denis et Poissonnière neighbourhoods for example, little is left of these old buildings (4% of the buildings in the 9th, 10% in the 10th, 6% in the 11th districts).
The major construction work that took place during the 19th century, began after the Revolution and continued under Haussmann during the Second Empire, giving rise to most of the buildings in Paris today (58%). 14% of buildings date from the first half of the 19th century. These include for example the development of large land plots at Chaussée-d’Antin in the 9th district, Faubourg Poissonnière in the 9th and 10th districts, the areas adjacent to railway stations, etc. 45% of buildings date from the second half of the century, the period when the major Haussmannian construction work continued up until the First World War, with the laying out of a network of avenues and boulevards, the creation of parks and gardens, major institutions, modern public facilities and extensive housing projects. Work began within the ring-road of the Fermiers généraux, particularly around the Observatory, the Jardins du Luxembourg and Boulevard Saint-Michel and Saint Germain (44% of the buildings in the 5th district), in the Europe neighbourhood (62% in the 8th district). After 1860, building work extended to municipal annexes, with construction on land plots at Plaine Monceau (59% in the 17th district), and the Daumesnil sector (44% in the 12th), etc.
In sharp contrast, very little construction took place between World Wars one and two (8% of today’s buildings), except in outlying districts, where low-cost housing (HBM) was built in place of the Thiers Wall - L’enceinte de Thiers - in neighbourhoods where industries were setting up (16% of buildings in the 19th, 14% in the 13th, 10% in the 20th districts, etc.) with housing estates for the lower income population, and on the edges of the Bois de Boulogne woods, buy-to-let apartment buildings were built (15% of 16th district).
The “Thirty Glorious Years” (1945-1975), were marked by the de-industrialisation of Paris, followed by the 1975-2000 period when a new phase opened of extensive renovation work aimed at eradicating insalubrious housing and reconverting the industrial wastelands and then the disused railway lines to create new neighbourhoods. 15% of Parisian buildings were constructed in 45 years, notably in the 13th district, with Place d’Italie, and the creation of the Olympiades (28% of the district), in the 15th with the creation of the Front de Seine and then the neighbourhood around the André-Citroën Park (26% of construction), in the 19th district with Orgues de Flandre, Cité Michelet, Place des Fêtes and then later, development work on the Bassin de la Villette, Avenue de Flandre and areas around the park (26% of construction work).
Since the 2000s, development sectors of various sizes continue to enrich the building heritage (3% of today’s legacy). This includes, Paris-Rive-Gauche (6% of buildings in the 13th district), Paris-Nord-Est and Porte des Lilas (5% of the 19th) and the Batignolles sector (3% of the 17th).