Three years ago, the Paris municipality redesigned one of its major city squares, Place de la République. The plan was simple: giving less room to cars and more to pedestrians, turning Place de la République into the largest pedestrian square of the city, “like an open field at the heart of the city”. This overhaul was part of the project of the then-mayor Bertrand Delanoë to give public space “back to Parisians”, project for which several iconic squares have been and will be redesigned.
The websites describing the operation feature pictures of beautiful trees and pedestrians busy on their way to work or engaged in “multiple urban uses”: playing, eating ice-cream and so on. But as indicated by the statue of Marianne – icon and symbol of the French revolution – located at its centre, the newly renovated Place de la République would do way more for Parisians than offer nice sights when taking their lunch break on its new and wider steps: today, the square is the focal point of a wave of protests and radical actions against the French government policies.
Place de la Republique (Picture by Clément Guillaume)
Arab Spring, Indignados and Occupy – Public Squares Stir Revolutions All Over the World
All over the world, large-scale bottom-up political movements have been allowed by the existence of large open public space. In 2011, the death of Mohammed Bouazizi – who set himself on fire in reaction to the terrible economic and social situation of the Tunisian youth – has driven tens of thousands of Tunisian citizens to the Tahrir square, in the centre of Tunis, leading to the destitution of the president Ben Ali and to a wave of similar protests in neighbouring countries, giving birth to what would soon be called the Arab spring.
A few months later, the movement of indignados took possession of the Plaza del Sol in Madrid. In this large open space in the Spanish capital, the indignados established a non-violent camping site where civil protest would be voiced and a bunch of political, feminist, human rights and neighbourhood organisations would be created, many of which are still in activity nowadays. The movement spread around Spain and further, even way after the square was evacuated. “America needs its own Tahrir”, wrote at that time the Canadian publication Adbusters. And in September, the movement reached the United States, where protesters settled a park in the Wall Street neighbourhood (the other public places considered had been fenced by the police) and launched a movement against increasing social and economic inequalities under the now famous name: Occupy.
Place de la République after the Paris Attacks of January 2015, “Je Suis Charlie”
Picture by Olivier Ortelpa, Paris
Place de la République, Paris after the Paris attacks of November 2015 (Benoit Tessiers/Roeters)
The sign reads “Même pas peur », « Not even afraid »
How Place de la République Helps Redefining the French Democracy
The symbolic power of Place de la République was discovered by most Parisians in January 2015: it is in this square that 1.5 million Parisians gathered to say that “they were Charlie” after the Charlie Hebdo attacks. Ten months later, the population of Paris was united once again Place de la République to mourn the 130 victims of the Paris attacks, but also to warn against the potential racist and islamophobic violences that could follow this dreadful event.
It is therefore not a surprise if it is in Place de la République that diverse groups of activists and average citizens have gathered to protest. Last year, for a few months, this square has been occupied every evening by a grassroot movement called “Nuit Debout”. This movement aimed to protest against a new neoliberal labour law reform currently being debated in the French parliament but it also embodied a wider opposition to the government’s policies and the very way French politics work, with an anticapitalist focus. General assemblies, workshops, debates, improvised orchestras and camping sites took place in this square which was evacuated by the police forces each night and recreated the following day. The movement has also been followed and reproduced in other squares and cities, in France and abroad.
The square under tear gas
Source: Morgane Merteuil, twitter, May 1st 2016
Policemen versus protestors
Source: Nuit Debout, Twitter, May 1st 2016
Hopes and Fights: Recognising the Potentialities of Public Space
How successful was the Nuit Debout movement? Like most occupying movements, it ended without many concrete results and to the price of terrible police violence.
However, the fact that hundreds of French people of all ages have taken the street, sometimes read about politics for the first time and decided to get involved in the name of values in which they believe is to be remembered. They have thought about how to include the most people in a debate and brainstormed about a potential new constitution. They have started to care about the policies and decision-making of their government, and tried to create an alternative.
It seems that Place de la République keeps being the place where people come first when they need to express political dissatisfaction; on April 23d, when the French learnt that for a president they would have the choice between either far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen or liberal business-friendly Emmanuel Macron, the statue on the square was found with a graffiti saying “Ni patrie ni patron, Ni Le Pen ni Macron” (“Neither motherland nor boss, neither Le Pen nor Macron”).
Patrie Patron, Place de la République (paris-luttes.info)
Would the Paris city hall have expected, when redesigning Place de la République two years ago that this space would foster the biggest contestations of their own authority? Nuit Debout was probably not part of the “multiple urban uses” the designers had originally in mind. Whether the square is invaded by tourists, by youngsters listening to music too loud or by hotdogs does not make any difference: when giving free space to the people, city officials should be prepared for the unexpected and, why not, to revolution.
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