TOURIST DISTRICTS IN PARIS - STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS

This paper seeks to develop a more general understanding of tourist di stricts in large polycentric urban areas by exploring the characterist ics, structure and functioning of three tourist districts in Paris - t he Ile de ia Cite, Montmartre and the Opera quarter The approach adopt ed focuses on the spatial and functional association of tourism's dive rse components around major nuclei and their insertion into the underl ying urban fabric: administrative, residential and commercial. A certa in level of synergy is apparent between the different sectors but the functional association between major and other attractions is shown to be not as strong as physical proximity alone might otherwise suggest. A varying degree of compatibility between tourism and other urban fun ctions is also revealed, highlighting the significance of the underlyi ng land-use of each district and the role of historical factors. Ease of accessibility is shown to be a critical factor in structuring touri st districts. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.