Governing Paris - Planning and political conflict in Ile-de-France

In this paper we examine some of the major planning challenges facing the Paris region and we locate these in the context of problems of institutional coordination and cooperation. Finding the right institutions for metropolitan governance is a challenge for most of Europe's large cities. Our approach to the Paris region emphasizes the need to understand the evolution of institutions of governance and the struggles between political actors around these institutional legacies. Political competition motivates key actors in the multi-level governance of the region. We examine the struggle to develop new social housing and conflicts around transport policy in Paris. Political conflict and different perspectives on regional planning stand in the way of solutions to current problems. In the final part of the paper we discuss how potential political and institutional solutions might develop.