Uploaded October 2014 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
This animation shows the urban extent of Paris in 1900, 1928, 1955, 1979, and finally 2014. In 2014, 10.8 Million live in Paris, but the Megacity has not always been so large. Paris has been a permanent human settlement for more than two millennia. In the 1850s, post-Revolution leaders transformed the city, widening roads, planting trees and improving the sewage system. So Parisian farmers came up with a way to feed the booming population: using manure from the many horse-drawn carriages as compost. New urban farms yielded 110 pounds of produce per resident annually. Eventually cars replaced horse carriages, and urban farming in Paris declined.
This animation shows the urban extent of Paris in 1900, 1928, 1955, 1979, and finally 2014. In 2014, 10.8 Million live in Paris, but the Megacity has not always been so large. Paris has been a permanent human settlement for more than two millennia. In the 1850s, post-Revolution leaders transformed the city, widening roads, planting trees and improving the sewage system. So Parisian farmers came up with a way to feed the booming population: using manure from the many horse-drawn carriages as compost. New urban farms yielded 110 pounds of produce per resident annually. Eventually cars replaced horse carriages, and urban farming in Paris declined.
