The 19th century saw a remarkable transformation of Paris.
Much of the Paris we know and love today come from this period.
It's difficult to overstate how huge the transformation was.
Haussmann, the prefect of Paris, led a massive campaign of urbanisation.
He gutted the medieval quarters of Paris, justifying the project on sanitary, traffic and security grounds (7 uprisings had taken place in Paris between 1830-1848, there were epidemics of cholera...)
All in all, 19,000 buildings were demolished and 34,000 new ones created!
He built huge new streets across Paris - Rue de Rivoli, Boulevards de Strasbourg,Sebastopol, Voltaire, Magenta, Malesherbes, Arago, Raspail, Haussmann, Saint Germain, Places de la Republique, de l'Etoile, de la Nation, de l'Opera, de l'Europe, du Trocadero, Victor Hugo, Avenues des Gobelins, Philippe-Auguste...
He created the Opera, 5 theatres, 6 city halls, 19 churches, 10 covered markets, 3 train stations, Prefecture de Police, Palais de Justice, Tribunal de Commerce...
He built new parks : Bois de Boulogne, de Vincennes, Buttes Chaumont, Parc Montsouris, 24 public squares, 600,000 new trees...
He updated the city's water supply and sewage system.
He annexed 11 suburbs including Montmartre, Belleville, Charonne...
The city grew from 400,000 to 1.6M inhabitants.