Immigration and the making of place in Paris David H. Kaplan* Department of Geography, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA Since the late nineteenth century, France has been a destination for people outside its borders. In recent decades, most immigrants have come from outside of Europe, often from ex-colonies in Northern Africa, West Africa, and Indochina. The Parisian area has welcomed a disproportionate share of these immigrants and neighborhoods have been shaped and reshaped to reflect their presence. This paper examines three neighbor- hoods in Paris—Belleville, the Triangle de Choisy, and the Goutte d’Or— which are each composed of and shaped by separate ethnic populations. To a great extent, these neighborhoods are imprinted by commercial activity, often involving customers who come from well outside the neighborhood and networks that extend beyond the nation. They also show patterns of multiethnicity which allows for difference between groups to be maintained, even as the space shared between them is effectively negotiated. Keywords: France; ethnicity; transnationalism; segregation Like many countries in Europe, France has recently experienced a rise in far right nationalism, often linked to the growth of immigration and its perceived effects. These uncomfortable political adjustments reflect that so many of these countries are entering into a new globalizing economy, with the attendant expansion of international networks and global migration. But what is taking place in France is nothing new. For long stretches of its history, France has been an essential destination for many international migrants. They have looked to France for opportunity and they have settled in its cities. These immigrants in turn have created distinct ethnic places. In this paper, I chronicle the growth, changes, and distribution of immigrants to Paris and then examine its impact on the landscape of three neighborhoods. Immigration to France Many European countries are now experiencing a flood of immigration, but the French case is more historic. At least since the late nineteenth century, France has been a destination for people from outside its borders (Figure 1). *David H. Kaplan is a professor of Geography at Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA. Email: dkaplan@kent.edu Journal of Cultural Geography, 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08873631.2015.1004855 © 2015 JCG Press, Oklahoma State University Downloaded by [KSU Kent State University] at 09:21 13 February 2015