Haussmann's Renovation of Paris - A Medieval Capital Is Modernised

A Medieval Capital Is Modernised

In the middle of the nineteenth century, the centre of Paris had the same structure as it did in the Middle Ages. The narrow interweaving streets and cramped buildings impeded the flow of traffic, resulting in unhealthy conditions that were denounced by the first hygiene scientists. The successive regimes had pushed the outer limits of the city to where they are today, on the Paris périphérique (beltway), but none of them changed the heart of the capital. From the 1830s to 1860s, it was much the same.