Moret, Frédéric <br/><br/>
When Margins Define the City 

 -  2009.<br/>							 
<br/><br/> 35 
<br/><br/> The July Monarchy’s decision to build a ring of fortifications around Paris strongly impacted the development of the Parisian agglomeration. This paper discusses the fierce debates this project sparked, opposition to this project, and the resulting uses of space. At the exact moment of the demographic and spatial “take-off” of the Parisian metropolis, the fortifications redefined Parisian space and its functions. Could Paris, a capital of the arts and sciences and a symbol of liberty, become a garrison town? The fortifications drew the limits of the city as well as its suburbs (the banlieue), defining their statutes, their inhabitants, landholders, or managers. In fact, “ la zone” continued to mark the division between Paris and its suburbs even after the wall was torn down.