Don't be wrong la Defense is far to be the only place in Paris where is there is modern building.
La Defense business district will have 50 years old this years, I would not call it modern.
Many districts in Paris are a lot younger.
The probleme of la Defense it is that everything is "underground" (not really underground but it is the same impression), there is a big crowded comercial center, a big crowded station... There is not a lack of street rentail. The pedestrian dalle is not well integrated at the the rest of the city.
There is not a lack of people. 500,000 people who commute everyday per la Defense.
Fortunaly there is a lot of improvemenent and so many projects to make la Defense more human.
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The old parts of the city that are alive, do not have residential towers
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A false fact, the main Parisian chinatown is vibrant, crowded on saturday and very lively the sunday, and it mainly composed by residencial towers when the 7th arrondissement mainly composed by old buildings and monument is unvibrant, boring and empty (the week and the week end).
The 8th arrondissemens (exepted the Champs Elysee) is empty the week end.
So the problem is not the modern architecture or the high-rises, the main problem of la Defense is the Dalle, One of biggest failure of the 70's urban planning.