ABSTRACT
La Petite Ceinture is a remarkable ecological and social asset that circles the inner edges of Paris. It is a 32-km circular rail line dedicated to the network of industrial operations that once thrived in the city. This chapter examines what happened in the wake of industrial decline after the rail line was no longer in service and the vast system was shuttered. The tracks, stations and related infrastructure were simply neglected, and flora and fauna soon flourished, creating an expanse of ecological landscape continuity that would be impossible to replicate. Although the Petite Ceinture was officially off-limits to humans, a network of clandestine access points enabled human enjoyment and use of the rail system. As a vast, unregulated space winding through the city, the Petite Ceinture provided a degree of freedom and self-determination unavailable elsewhere. For many naturalists and recreational visitors, it was a wilderness oasis amid an intensely developed city. It also presented a vital space of refuge, where life needs could be fulfilled on the tracks and in the decommissioned stations. Others saw it as an underused civic resource that should be developed. Competing visions of the rail line’s preferred disposition inspired robust civic debates that reveal a great deal about the politics of urban nature.
