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Haussmann’s Reformation of Paris
A vision of the future or a nightmare of the past?
Looking closely enough at the fabric of our era, one might perceive the effects of a deep social and economic shift that began about 1760 in Great Britain and spread to continental Europe and the United States: the Industrial Revolution.
The abrupt transition from agricultural to industrial production brought sweeping changes that impacted daily life. With the advent of mass production brought in by new technologies such as steam power and electricity, there was an explosive increase in productivity, mean income, and population growth, improving continuously the standard of living for decades.
At the same time, industrial workers migrated to cities, living in cramped, unsanitary quarters and working under arduous conditions, sometimes in exchange for just food and shelter.
Perhaps the most striking example of this ambivalent period of change is Baron Haussmann's transformation of the city of Paris during Napoleon III's reign between 1853 and 1870.
Napoleon III (Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte 1808–1873) was the first elected president of France from 1848 to 1852 and self-proclaimed Emperor of France from 1852 until 1870.
