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Mass Transportation in the Neoliberal City: The Mobilizing Myths of the Grand Paris Express

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  • Theresa Erin Enright

    (Department of Politics, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA)

Abstract

This paper examines the discourses of transportation and mobility surrounding the Grand Paris Express mass transit network announced in January 2011 as part of the broader Grand Paris urban renewal and agglomeration initiative. It argues that though Grand Paris Express has the potential to symbolically unify the Île-de-France region, and may provide much needed infrastructure to the peripheral suburbs of Paris, because of the neoliberal political rationality upon which it is based, it may likely entrench rather than relieve the problems of territorial inequality it sets out to address. An important tool of gentrification, mass transit is being used in metropolitan Paris to lead urban development in the creation of a polycentric region with functionally differentiated clusters of industry, finance, and technology around proposed transit stations. Following four main ‘mobilizing myths’ that dominate public policy debates, the proposed Grand Paris Express system fails to consider the broad social, economic, and political conditions upon which urban mobility is based, instead orienting transit toward a marketized logic of real estate development, urban rent production, and territorial competition.

Suggested Citation

  • Theresa Erin Enright, 2013. "Mass Transportation in the Neoliberal City: The Mobilizing Myths of the Grand Paris Express," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(4), pages 797-813, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:45:y:2013:i:4:p:797-813
    DOI: 10.1068/a459
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Brenner, Neil, 2004. "New State Spaces: Urban Governance and the Rescaling of Statehood," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199270064.
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    Cited by:

    1. Christiansen, Petter, 2020. "The effects of transportation priority congruence for political legitimacy," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 61-76.
    2. Kristian Olesen, 2020. "Infrastructure imaginaries: The politics of light rail projects in the age of neoliberalism," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(9), pages 1811-1826, July.
    3. Jennifer Robinson & Katia Attuyer, 2021. "Extracting Value, London Style: Revisiting the Role of the State in Urban Development," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 303-331, March.
    4. Biao Yin & Liu Liu & Nicolas Coulombel & Vincent Viguie, 2018. "Appraising the environmental benefits of ride-sharing: The Paris region case study," Post-Print hal-01695082, HAL.
    5. Raimbault, Nicolas, 2019. "From regional planning to port regionalization and urban logistics. The inland port and the governance of logistics development in the Paris region," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 205-213.
    6. Reigner, Hélène & Brenac, Thierry, 2019. "Safe, sustainable… but depoliticized and uneven – A critical view of urban transport policies in France," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 218-234.
    7. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Yazdi, Asieh Haieri, 2019. "Technological frames and the politics of automated electric Light Rail Rapid Transit in Poland and the United Kingdom," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).

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