Toulouse : a rapidly expanding French city
2007 Volume 2 Pages 75-78
Details
2007 Volume 2 Pages 75-78
Antoine FRAYSSE
Aichi University of Education
Toulouse skyline from Pech David Hill. (tonio94)
Toulouse is situated 680 km south of Paris and 250 km southeast of Bordeaux on both banks of the Garonne River. It is the capital city of the Haute- Garonne département and of the Midi-Pyrénées région. Fourth largest metropolitan area in France with an estimated population of 1.1 million inhabitants in 2006, it is also one of the fastest growing areas in Europe.
Archaeologists have found traces of human settlements dating back to the 8th century BC in 2002. Aquitanian and Iberian tribes populated the area until the arrival of the Volcae Tectosages of Celtic origin during the 3rd century BC. The settlements had developed into a city renowned for its great wealth when it became part of the Roman colony of Narbo Martius in 118 BC and became known as Tolosa. It developed rapidly after the conquest of Aquitania by Julius Caesar in 52 BC. Between 10 and 30 AD, the city was moved to its present location while keeping its name. It then became a major Roman city thriving with interregional trade. From 418 to 508, it became the capital of the Visigoth kingdom and then was conquered by the Franks and entered a long period of decline and anarchy that lasted until the end of the 9th century.
By then, Toulouse had become the capital of a county under the sovereignty of the King of France, but practically independent. The counts of Toulouse fought for their survival and finally managed to expand their territory from Toulouse in the west to the Rhône River in the east, an area known as Languedoc province until the Revolution. The rule of the counts gradually eroded
Saint-Sernin basilica (Cornelis)
during the 10th century but they managed to regain some control over the city until 1152. During that period, from 1080 to 1096, the most famous landmark of the city: Saint-Sernin basilica was built.
With the death of count Raymond IV in 1105, a body called “chapitre”, started taking charge of the administration of the city; its members were called “Capitouls”. The “Capitouls” control over Toulouse was to last until the Revolution and granted the city a relative independence, despite numerous interventions from the King after the county became part of the Royal Estate in 1271, for almost 600 years. Over the years, the city became the administrative and cultural hub of the region (the University of Toulouse was founded in 1229) but also had to suffer from the Inquisition, famines, plague, fires, floods and the Hundred Years War.
In the middle of the 15th century, prosperity reappeared in Toulouse with the development of the industry of fabric dye woad and its trade until it was later replaced by indigo. Many buildings that were built during that period can still be seen in the centre of
Assézat mansion (tonio94)
the old city. One fine example is the Pierre d’Assézat mansion.
In the middle of the 16th century, the university had almost 10 thousand students, but civil war between Calvinists and Catholics would soon end that peaceful period. Peace was to return at the beginning of the 17th century, but the plague also reappeared in 1652 and 1654. The Pont-Neuf over the Garonne and the Canal du Midi were respectively completed in 1632 and 1682. The 18th century saw the construction of another landmark of the city: the Capitole.
The Capitole (Felipeh)
The Revolution completely modified the political and administrative structures of the city and greatly reduced its regional influence.
The Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries simply did not happen in Toulouse; the city lived through that period as a quiet and sedate administrative centre. With World War I, Toulouse stepped into modernity when the French government decided to relocate aircraft industries near the city because of its safe location far from the traditional frontlines. Since then, the economic development of the city has been intricately tied with aerospace industrial activities, and Toulouse is now considered as Europe’s capital of aerospace industry.
According to the 2004 census, Toulouse is the 4th largest city in France after Paris, Marseille and Lyon,, with a population of 426,700 inhabitants, the 6th urban area after Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Lille and Nice with
797,440 inhabitants, and the 5th metropolitan area after Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Lille with 1,001,047 inhabitants. University students’ population is the 2nd largest in France after Paris with 140,000 students.
The population of the city by itself had a record yearly growth of 1.8 % between 1999 and 2004. During the same period, the urban area grew at a rate of 15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants each year, and the metropolitan area logged a yearly growth of 2,2%, a European record. The metropolitan area doubled its population between 1960 and 2000, if the growth rate does not weaken, will soon overtake Lille as the 4th largest metropolitan area, and it gathers almost 40% of the population of the Midi-Pyrénées région.
Toulouse definitely has a power of attraction beside other French and European metropolises: 2/3 of its new inhabitants come from a region other than Midi- Pyrénées and 11% even come from a foreign country. The reasons for that attraction can be found in an attractive location between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea enjoying a temperate climate in the Sun Belt of France, and a very positive image (good quality of life, numerous highest level universities and engineering schools, major employment in services and industries belonging to the 3rd Industrial Revolution).
In order to face the increasing challenges of how to accommodate such a growth, how to upgrade transportation systems and develop housing and infrastructure, a new administrative body was created in 2001, the Community of Agglomeration of Greater Toulouse (Communauté d’agglomération du Grand Toulouse), regrouping the city of Toulouse and 24 neighbouring cities. Its ruling body is called the Council of Greater Toulouse. In 2004, the population of the Community was estimated to be of 651,029 inhabitants, 65,5% of them living in Toulouse. However, because of political rivalries, some adjoining cities have refused to join the Community of Agglomeration of greater Toulouse which only hosts 61% of the population of Toulouse metropolitan area.
Map of the Community of Agglomeration of Greater Toulouse
The city proper covering an area of 118.3 square km, the urban area 808 square km, and the metropolitan area 4,015.2 square km (1999 figures), average commuting distances are therefore rather long. Until the Eighties, extensive development of road infrastructure has been a priority, with the construction of numerous parking areas in the centre of the city. Since then, a modern mass transit system has been developed in the form of a subway whose automated (driverless) trains run on tyres. Line A runs for 12,5 km between Basso Campo in the southwest to Balma- Gramont in the northeast since 1993. In June 2007, Line B will be operational from Borderouge in the north to Ramonville in the south, intersecting line A in the city centre, and using the same technology. Line C (in operation since 2003) is an upgraded railway line similar to the RER system in Paris connecting Colomiers in the west to line A on the left bank of the Garonne. The latest development is line D, also a RER type extension starting from Muret in the south with connections with both B and A lines. Next project is line E, starting from the subway station Arènes on the left bank of the Garonne, heading northwest for 11.8 km to Blagnac (international airport, Airbus Industries offices and factories). It will be a tramway system becoming operational in 2009. (Refer to the map on the following page.)
Since World War I, the main industrial activities were aircraft and chemical industries.
After the explosion of the AZF plant in September 2001 causing 30 casualties, about 2,500 injured and huge material damage, heavy chemical activities have been phased out and replaced mainly by pharmaceutical industries. The site of the former AZF plant has been chosen for the construction of a European size cancer research and treatment centre (Cancéropôle) regrouping state and private institutions, which will open in 2011 (A on the following map).
Since the CNES (National Space Research Centre) moved into Toulouse in 1963, the role of the city as the
French capital of aerospace activities has been confirmed. That move and the ensuing development of air and space industries attracted high level engineering schools and research institutes (SUPAERO (ENSICA): Air and Space National Institute, ENAC: Civil Aviation National Institute, ENSICA: Aircraft Engineering national Institute, etc. The area around Blagnac airport became the headquarters of Airbus Industries and a huge site had to be developed near the existing assembly factories for the construction of the high capacity A 380 aircraft: the Aéroconstellation site. Meanwhile, companies specialised in satellite and telecommunications technology moved into Labège during the Seventies, attracting other high-tech industries into a vast area still in development called Labège Innopole in the southeast. Since 1982, the National Centre for Meteorological Research (CNRM) and the centre of analyses of Météo-France settled in the area called Météopôle in the west. Then in the near future, the Galileo system company (European equivalent of GPS) will have its headquarters in an area called Aérospace Campus located in the southeast on the former Montaudran airfield of Aéropostale fame in the Thirties (B on the map).
The dynamic image of Toulouse as a modern high- tech industrial city is also matched by its cultural life. Besides being an important university centre with 3 universities (Toulouse I, Toulouse-Le Mirail, Université Paul-Sabatier), it also boasts the second largest concert hall in France (Zénith), and quite a few state-of-the-art cultural venues (congress hall, theatre, art museum) as well as its renowned Opera. The sports world will hear about Toulouse in 2007, as the city is the French host of the Rugby World Cup.
Sources:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toulouse http://www.haute-garonne.fr http://www.grandtoulouse.org http://www.midipyrenees.fr http://www.toulouse.fr
