... would have been easy for the governors of the city to rest on these historic laurels, this has not happened, quite the reverse. Over the last fifteen years a massive £12 million has been invested in a series of Grands Projets that has added contemporary and futuristic architectural styles to an already eclectic mix. Whilst unquestionably being "grandiose presidential gestures" (Rogers and Fisher, 1992, p53) from politicians intent on leaving their personalised stamp on the city, these projects also collectively symbolise the Gaullic notion of "la gloire de la France" and thus are standard-bearers of French national pride. Additionally, the political decision to open the design of Grands Projets to international competition cleverly helped focus worldwide attention on Paris (which aided its claim to be the cultural capital of Europe) and, at least in terms of its cosmopolitain architecture, meant it could literally be deemed a 'world' city. Furthermore, though the ...

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