Drop in Paris population causes alarm in city hall

Paris: Paris authorities are scrambling to halt an ongoing decline in the number of residents in the French capital s centre which has dropped by arou...

Paris: Paris authorities are scrambling to halt an ongoing decline in the number of residents in the French capital's centre which has dropped by around 10,000 every year for the past decade.

The city of Paris, limited by the "Peripherique" ringroad, currently counts 2.1 million inhabitants, some 140,000 fewer than in 2013. The surrounding region, called "Ile de France" (Island of France) totals over 12 million.

The exodus from what is the European Union's most densely-populated capital has caused hand-wringing at city hall where the municipal council is preparing to debate a new urban development plan (PLU), submitted by mayor Anne Hidalgo, a Socialist, and her allies.

The aim is to raise the quality of living in the capital over the next decade and beyond to stop the exodus of middle-income residents and families, notably by boosting affordable housing, but also by helping residents adapt to the effects of climate change.

The conservative opposition, spearheaded by Rachida Dati, France's culture minister and Hidalgo's most outspoken rival, says people have "fled" the capital because of what it calls an "unbearable urbanisation" caused by too much construction.