Bank balances over built form

Emmanuel Grégoire (Union of the Left) is in the lead with 37.98% of the vote:

And Rachida Dati (Union of the Right) is in second with 25.46% of the vote:

What is not unexpected, but super interesting nonetheless, is the clear divide between the west and east within Paris proper. The west voted right, and the east voted left.

Here in Toronto, our voting maps typically exhibit a semi-clear divide between "Old Toronto" and the inner suburbs. For example, these are the results from our 2023 mayoral by-election:

Conveniently, it is a divide that loosely tracks the city's built form. If you live in the oldest parts of the city, where transit usage is higher and there's rail in the middle of the street, there's a higher probability that you voted for Chow. The inner suburbs, on the other hand, tended to vote for Bailão.

In the case of Paris, there isn't the same built form contrast. This is not an urban-suburban divide; it's a socio-economic divide. The western arrondissements have historically been the wealthiest areas of Paris (for a variety of reasons), and that continually appears in the voting patterns.

It also shows up in the modal splits. The western arrondissements tend to have higher car ownership rates compared to the east. These basic facts are interesting because Paris represents more of a controlled urban experiment, in contrast to Toronto's dense downtown and otherwise generally low-rise built form.

But in the end, I'm not sure the political mappings of Paris and Toronto are all that different. If you look closely at Toronto's 2023 by-election map, you'll see that the wealthiest pockets of the city voted exactly as you would expect. Turns out, bank balances may matter more than built form.

Cover photo by Maximilian Zahn on Unsplash

Emmanuel Grégoire (Union of the Left) is in the lead with 37.98% of the vote:

And Rachida Dati (Union of the Right) is in second with 25.46% of the vote:

What is not unexpected, but super interesting nonetheless, is the clear divide between the west and east within Paris proper. The west voted right, and the east voted left.

Here in Toronto, our voting maps typically exhibit a semi-clear divide between "Old Toronto" and the inner suburbs. For example, these are the results from our 2023 mayoral by-election:

Conveniently, it is a divide that loosely tracks the city's built form. If you live in the oldest parts of the city, where transit usage is higher and there's rail in the middle of the street, there's a higher probability that you voted for Chow. The inner suburbs, on the other hand, tended to vote for Bailão.

In the case of Paris, there isn't the same built form contrast. This is not an urban-suburban divide; it's a socio-economic divide. The western arrondissements have historically been the wealthiest areas of Paris (for a variety of reasons), and that continually appears in the voting patterns.

It also shows up in the modal splits. The western arrondissements tend to have higher car ownership rates compared to the east. These basic facts are interesting because Paris represents more of a controlled urban experiment, in contrast to Toronto's dense downtown and otherwise generally low-rise built form.

But in the end, I'm not sure the political mappings of Paris and Toronto are all that different. If you look closely at Toronto's 2023 by-election map, you'll see that the wealthiest pockets of the city voted exactly as you would expect. Turns out, bank balances may matter more than built form.

Cover photo by Maximilian Zahn on Unsplash

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