[Metropolitan]

Paris is a city which is much more vibrant and dynamic than London. And the reason is rather simple, the city is much more packed. It's denser. Hence activities are much more concentrated giving that vibrancy feeling which no district in London can match. Oxford street may look overcrowded in the London context, but in the Paris context, it would be another average sized shopping street... granted a crowded one but not particularly more than rue de Rennes or rue de Rivoli. It's all a matter of contrast... and the fact Oxford street is located in an area which is relatively quiet makes its crowds more noticeable than it would in the center of Bombay or Hong Kong.

In the western world, I see only two cities where activities form a continuum all over a rather large central district: that would be Paris (especially the right bank) and the island of Manhattan (especially south of Central Park). In most other western cities, either the center is much smaller, or the activity is sparsed in several more differenciated neighbourhoods.

Some smaller districts of Paris have indeed a museum feeling, I think generally of the left bank, especially around rue des Ecoles, Pantheon and Sorbonne. Others have even what I would call a theme park feeling, the best example is probably place du Tertre in Montmartre which is obscenely fake to please tourists. However, this is far to be a rule. Even the medieval district of the Marais, on the right bank, is too much alive to be considered "museum-like".

Paris is currently growing fastly, it's getting denser too. Between 2000 and 2005, the 4 central departments have seen their population rising from 6.164 million to 6.408 million, and all this in an area less than half the size of the Greater London. Like many other cities in the world, the demography, as much as the economy (Paris being the 2nd city worldwide hosting the most Fortune Global 500 headquarters), enforces Paris to be constantly evolving: create, devellop and make grow newer disticts, preserve or upgrade older districts.

That evolution isn't necessarily following the right track. It depends from a district to another. I think it's impossible to understand a city without considering it as a living being. Just like a forest, some of its areas flourish, while others get old.

A nice example would be the ugly district of the Olympiades which was totally lifeless in the 70's, and which is today the center of Paris main chinatown, one of the most vibrant area on the left bank. The heart of the Asian community in Western Europe. A counter example would be Saint-Michel, which is rapidly getting fake and soulless. When just 10 years ago rue de la Huchette was still a thrilling area known for its Greek community, it has been today totally abandonned to tourist shops and restaurants.

That perpetual evolution of Paris makes it too alive to be considered as fossilized as a museum city would imply it to be.