Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2007. Sectio Scientarium Economicarum et Socialium. (Acta Academiae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 34)

Michael Carmona: A városfejlődés szerepe a régiófejlődésben

36 Michael Carmona In order to develop a cost/benefit analysis of the problem, 1 shall use the postwar experience of France in town and regional development. On the first days of January 1949, a french geographer, Jean-Francis Gravier, published a book bearing the following, very provocative title: "Paris and the French desert". At this time, during the immediate post-war years, Paris was swiftly recovering from the injuries inflicted to buildings and factories (notwithstanding the human losses) by the war and the battles for the liberation of the national territory; the governments have been since the end of the war facing the following question: when reconstructing the damaged car manufacturing plant of the Renault company (which had just been nationalized), should the decision be made to reconstruct the plant on the same site, close to the municipal border of Paris, or should it be wiser, easier and less expensive to relocate the plant elsewhere in France, why not at a distance of 300 to 500 kilometers off Paris, where the land costs nothing, and where considerable supplies of cheap manpower are available? The decision was made to reconstruct the plants on the same, historical site, in order not to losse time, and considering precisely the existence, inside Paris and the suburbs of Paris, of a skilled manpower. The same decisions were taken when the governmental authorities had to finance the reconstruction of truck manufacturing, heavy chemical machinery, paper industry, aeronautic plants, for, mills, slaughterhouses. Paris was before World War II the first industrial region of the country, despite the fact that Paris and its region completely lack any kind of mineral resource, such as coal, iron, gas, hydraulic energy. After reconstruction was enhanced, Paris still remained the first industrial country of France. Moreover, Paris benefitted immediate positive effects of reconstruction which were up-to-date equipments and fittings; much of the corresponding cost was met by the Marshall plan which enabled the country, and specially Paris, to implement a large-scale modernization of the industrial tool. This is what happened from 1945 to 1949-1950, and explains why JeanFran^aois Gravier wrote his book. Gravier understood what the consequences of this rebuilding of industrial Paris ould mean. The first consequence was to attract to Paris and to the neighbouring communities of the capital city all young skilled, learned and ambitious people. There has been indeed a huge brain drain, mainly drawing to Paris youngsters from all other regions of France. Inside the Paris region itself, which accounts for a mere 2% of the territory of France, the same phenomenon happened. Half of the area of this region of Paris is covered by farms, and dedicated to agriculture, one fourth is covered by forests, and one fifth is covered by the city of Paris and its suburbs. After World War II, the agricultural communities, the villages, the small towns all around Paris suffered the same workforce drain; the territories located in the outskirts of Paris quickly became empty, except here and there, when fresh areas were needed for urban purposes. Paris and the neighbouring suburbs, between 1950 and 1954, gained every year a net surplus of 140.000 inhabitants - that is 560.000 inhabitants in 4 years. This was at the expense of all regions of France, but mainly the territories located in a range of about 200 kilometers around Paris, from which a majority of these people originally came.