Olympic bounce to push Paris ahead of London

Paris is moving ahead of London on many economic metrics and is expected to continue doing so in the wake of the Olympic Games. This was the overarching message of the new Global Cities Survey released by the London Property Alliance, which represents the UK capital’s real estate developers and investors. At the report launch, LPA chief executive Charles Begley praised “the level of ambition and state intervention in driving public infrastructure and public realm investment in the city of Paris and this approach to Grand Projet”. Referring to mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s plans to pedestrianise parts of Oxford Street, Begley added: “It seems that the government here, in partnership with the mayor, has got that memo.” Table talk London leads on foreign direct investment, with 75 overseas investments during the second quarter compared with just 24 in Paris. Nonetheless, the French capital leads on many other metrics. Paris has seen the highest level of public transport usage and posted a 15% increase on pre-pandemic numbers, whereas London’s plateaued at around 14% below. Paris also has higher average weekly office attendance, with 3.5 days in the office compared with London’s 2.7, according to a recent survey by the Centre of Cities think tank. The survey highlighted that Parisian employers are required to cover 50% of their employees’ travel expenses, which reduces the disincentivising costs involved in commuting to the office. Employment levels were also comparatively stronger across the Channel. The number of people in employment is 7.3% higher than in 2019, whereas in London the increase is just 0.9%. The lessons from the LPA’s recent visit to Paris were also explored in a panel discussion which examined how London could emulate some of these Parisian successes – starting with their tradition of taking long and leisurely lunches.  “I love how seriously Parisians take their food,” said Ross Sayers, head of development management at Landsec and chair of the panel. He described how on the LPA’s visit to Paris the group would have a tight schedule of office tours and talks, but fellow panellist and stand-in tour guide Edouard Lefebvre always made sure to make time for a “quick lunch”. Sayers said: “So, in Parisian style, we go for a quick lunch – which is a steak frites or a duck with dauphinoise potatoes.” Lefebvre, the former managing director of the Comité Champs-Élysées, a non-profit group of businesses on the Champs-Élysées, and the president of asset manager Splendor Mundi, said leisurely lunches help Parisians build greater workplace relationships and spend time enjoying the amenities around their workplaces, thereby enticing workers back into the office. Space to scale Another point of discussion was Station F, the Parisian technology incubator. The building, described by Lefebvre as a “temple” of innovation, is the world’s biggest start-up campus, built in a 370,000 sq ft former rail depot, which houses more than 30 start-up programmes and more than 1,000 businesses. While most panellists praised this bold state intervention to boost the Parisian technology industry, Laura Citron, chief executive of not-for-profit business development agency London & Partners, warned against hasty mimicry in the UK capital. Citron said that while “tight geographies” are great for facilitating links between “ideas, capital and people”, it would not address the more pressing constraint on London’s technology sector. “If I had £200m to spend on accelerating the tech sector in London I wouldn’t spend it on a building,” said Citron. “I would spend it on a fund to invest in companies. The constraint in London on growing the sector is not space. It’s growth capital. We lack early stage and growth-stage capital. That is what is going to grow our sector.” Despite some friendly on-stage sparring on the topic, Lefebvre admitted that he would – despite his loyalties to the French capital – choose London if he was given the choice between the two. “After all”, he said, “it is always better to be at the centre of the English-speaking world”. Main Paris photo © MOHAMMED BADRA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock; London photo © Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/Shutterstock