Preface and acknowledgements

Summary

On 16 March 2020 the French national government imposed a national lockdown that lasted for several weeks in an attempt to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the seven days around that date more than 1.2 million people in the Île-de-France left the largest French metropolis for the countryside. A year on, as I write this preface, the pandemic persists, and the duration of the measures imposed to contain the health crisis have had a devastating effect on the economy and society of the region.

It is too soon to offer an interpretation of the recent changes incurred by the pandemic, simply because it is uncertain whether the transformations it has entailed will be structural (having a durable effect on the structures of the regional economy and society) or merely temporary. It is worth pointing out here some of the major changes caused by the pandemic, however, without taking a position on their medium-or long-term impact on the Paris region.

First of all, the urban economy has suffered serious damage. Although no data are yet available for the 2020 regional economy, it is very likely that they will mirror the downward trend experienced at the national level, with an 8.3 per cent decrease in French gross domestic product (GDP). Considering the high degree of internationalization in the Île-de-France economy, it is very likely that the economic impact will be higher in the region than in the rest of France (Institut Paris Région 2020b).

For instance, as tourism, and notably foreign tourism, constitutes a significant source of revenue for the region, the closure of borders and the decline of air traffic have decimated the sector. The most recent data suggest a 72 per cent drop in revenue for the tourist industry in Île-de-France. Symbolically, the Louvre – the most visited museum in the world – welcomed only 2.7 million visitors in 2020, as opposed to almost 10 million in 2019. Moreover, whereas 75 per cent of the visitors are usually from abroad, they accounted for only 25 per cent in 2020.