The influence of the Paris metropolis extends out to neighbouring regions

Home to one sixth of the French population, the Paris metropolis greatly exceeds other urban areas in France in terms of its number of inhabitants. The dominant position of the capital in the urban hierarchy results in a very specific organisation of the urban structure, which squeezes out other large cities. The area of influence of the Paris metropolis therefore extends beyond the Île-de-France region, taking in twelve departments in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Centre-Val de Loire, Grand Est, Hauts-de-France and Normandy regions. Within that area, the territories are better developed and better connected to the Île-de-France, in the west and the north. The areas adjacent to the Île-de-France benefit from more favourable development dynamics than those located further away from the boundaries of the Paris region as a result of their closer ties to the latter, although this effect has diminished in the wake of the financial crisis. Further afield, the influence exerted by Paris combines with that of other factors, both within and outside of the Île-de-France. On the one hand, the towns and cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants that are closest to Paris also structure the space, breaking it up into several urban systems that have little to do with one another. On the other hand, on the fringes of this area, the northern and western territories present a marked contrast with those to the south and the east; the former having a dense urban network supported by Lille, Nantes and Rennes urban areas and the latter forming the northern tail of the diagonal of the low population densities.