I just had fun drawing a 10 km circle around the main French urban areas (more than 350,000 inhabitants) to see where the barycenter of a 10 km circle containing the largest possible number of inhabitants would be located. Here are the results. Once again, this is not scientific at all, it’s just for fun :)
1. Paris
For our capital, the barycenter of the 10 km radius is very central, since it is located in the Marais district. Obviously, the entire radius is urbanized — a unique case among the cities on this list — as the Parisian metropolitan area extends well beyond it.
2. Lyon
In the "capital of the Gaules", the barycenter is rather to the east of France’s second city — much to the dismay of the people of Marseille!-, beyond the railway and the wide boulevards surrounding the city center, since the metropolitan area extends more towards the eastern plains, while urbanization is constrained to the west by the hills.
3. Lille-Roubaix-Tourcoing
I deliberately mention the three cities, as was customary in the past, to emphasize the “conurbation” character of the area. In fact, the barycenter is located outside Lille’s boundaries, in the town of Marcq-en-Barœul. This is the symbolic site of the Croisé Laroche, the junction of the two branches of the Grand Boulevard connecting the "capital of Flanders" with the northeastern slope former industrial cities, Roubaix (former world capital of wool) on one side and Tourcoing on the other. At the crossroads of several influences, Lille is certainly the French city with the most "European" flair, along with Strasbourg, and most would say it feels more Belgian or English than French.
4. Marseille
In this major Mediterranean port city with very deep historical roots ("the Phocean city"), the barycenter lies in the district behind Saint-Charles train station. It is clear that the city’s expansion is constrained in every direction, since the 10 km radius includes mountain ranges to the north and south, and of course the sea to the west. Marseille is a dense city.
5. Toulouse
Unlike Lyon, the booming Occitan metropolis expands westward, as the flat and agricultural plains are more welcoming to American-style urban sprawl. While the city center is on the right bank, the barycenter of the 10 km circle is therefore located on the left bank, south of the airport, which is symbolic considering that the aeronautic industry made the recent fortune of the city.
6. Bordeaux
In this great Aquitaine city, the barycenter is just outside the large boulevard encircling the classical historical enter — a little north of the main university hospital — as the city tends to expand westward, on the same side of the river as the historic and posh center.
7. Nantes
The barycenter of the city of the Dukes of Brittany -but not in Brittany- lies very close to the city center, where the Erdre River ends.
8. Strasbourg
In the Rhine city, the barycenter is located near the Gerig pond, south of the city, in the municipality of Ostwald (“the eastern wood”). Naturally, the city spreads more towards the Alsatian plain, to the west, than towards the Rhine, the natural border with Germany -since 1944.
9. Nice
In the stunning and divided Côte d’Azur metropolis, squeezed between sea and mountains, the barycenter is found in the northern suburbs along the A8 motorway, since a large share of the population lives further west, beyond the Var River, in towns like Cagnes-sur-Mer and Vence. Can we still call this Nice?
10. Montpellier
In Montpellier, the barycenter is slightly to the east of the city center, on the banks of the Lez River. It seems the city tends to expand more to the northeast.
11. Grenoble
In this city surrounded by mountains, whose characteristic development branches follow the surrounding valleys, the barycenter is more towards the northeast branch, which is broader, between the Chartreuse massif and the first foothills of the Alps (Belledonne massif). Along with Lyon and Marseille, Grenoble is the densest French provincial city.
12. Rennes
In the major Breton city, the famous green belt encircling the city is quite visible. The suburban towns south of Rennes are more populated, placing the barycenter south of the main train station.
13. Rouen
In this Norman city on the Seine, which used to be 2nd French city in the Middle Ages, the barycenter is located on the left bank, in the southern suburbs, since urbanization tends to follow the large meander of the river south of the city.
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