The subject of this book is the Paris-Île-de-France region. Its first objective is to provide a relatively full account of the social, economic, political and spatial history of this area up to the present day, with a more precise description of the recent period, broadly since the year 2000. Its second goal is to look critically at the actions of the main protagonists, particularly the public actors, taking into account certain salient features of the history of this region and of the relations between the stakeholders. In this respect, the book takes the view that, despite the recent phenomena of globalization and decentralization, which have impacted and continue to affect Île-de-France and which in many ways contribute to the problems and challenges that this territory faces, the historical factors are crucial to an understanding of the present situation.

From this perspective, it is important to bear in mind several points that have had a long-term structural effect on the economic, social and political development of the region, both in the emergence and perception of the problems and challenges it faces, and in the behaviours and actions of the actors responsible for recognizing and resolving them. There are at least four such points to emphasize.

The first is the historical dominance that Paris and, more recently, Île-de-France have exercised over the rest of the country. This dominance takes many forms. It is demographic, in so far as Paris is by far France's most populous city and Île-de-France its most populous region. Unlike the countries that surround it, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain, France's urban hierarchy is overwhelmingly dominated by Paris and its conurbation. The other big metropolitan regions, whether Lille, Lyon or Marseille, have populations of barely 2 million compared with six times this number in Île-de-France. The difference between London and Birmingham or Manchester, between Madrid and Barcelona, between Rome and Milan or Naples, and between Berlin and Hamburg or Frankfurt is markedly smaller. Second, this dominance is also economic, with an extremely high concentration of economic and research sectors in Île-de-France.