The Reincarnation Of The Emperor
The Marseille Story
Marseille is a city on the south-eastern coast of France. It is the second most populous city in France after Paris with 852,395 inhabitants.
Founded on the Mediterranean coast as Massalia by the Greeks, Marseille is now the largest commercial port in France and the fourth largest in Europe.
Internationally, it is the second city in France to have many representatives from other countries, more than seventy consulates. Marseille is the administrative capital of the prefecture-level region of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur and the administrative capital of the prefecture departementale department of Bouches-du-Rhone.
Marseille, when we fantasize about the streets to France, things that inevitably come to mind this beauty of the Eiffel Tower, the beauty of the Palace of Versailles, while snacking on baguettes and croissants accompanied by accordion music played by street musicians in various corners of Paris. Have you ever thought about visiting Marseille?
Anthony Bourdain, the world's celebrity chef, once stated that “The French don’t seem to want you to go to Marseille (the French do not want you to visit Marseille).” Bourdain's visit to shoot Parts Unknown's program to Marseille at the time, was accompanied by question marks and disappointment, even from one of the French government officials.
That's Marseille. The second largest city in France is loaded with various prejudices and negative stamps, especially from the French population itself. The city is known for its high crime rate, a hotbed of drug dealers, armed mobsters, Muslim immigrants from northern Africa, and does not reflect France as a whole.
The only positive opinion about Marseille may only come from Zinedine Zidane, the French football legend, who spent his childhood in the city.
What makes Marseille so foreign to tourists and even shunned by the French.
Marseille, formerly Massilia, is the oldest city in France with a history of thousands of years. Marseille was a major port and trade route in France, with goods and immigrants arriving from all over the Mediterranean. When Marseille had become a frenzied city, the city of Paris at that time was still rural.
The position as one of the largest ports in the Mediterranean makes Marseille a meeting point for various nationalities. Although France does not recognize population censuses based on race, ethnicity, or religion, the average Marseille resident can trace the family tree of those who came from Italy, Corsica, Judaism, and the United States, the entire country of Morocco in North Africa, Comoros, Armenia, even to Vietnam.
Traces of multinationalism are clearly visible from the culinary choices presented in this city. In the city center, pizza and kebabs are the most popular staple food of les Marseillais or Marseille residents. Not infrequently also found a variety of typical Moroccan sweets such as leblebi, tajine, and falafel. The most famous, is none other than bouillabaise, a seafood soup typical of the city of Marseille with fish imported from the Mediterranean sea and spices from various parts of the world.
A long and rich history makes the people of Marseille full of pride and pride. The inhabitants of Marseille did not identify themselves primarily as French citizens, but as Marseille citizens. As the locals say, “The first one is the sea, then the city of Marseille, and after that is another country called France”.
Marseille is a reflection of the real face of France, which is still struggling to integrate immigrants and residents of its former colonies into society.
In one scene of the Marseille television series, the main character Robert Taro, played by veteran actor Gerard Depardieu, is a figure of the Mayor of Marseille who is struggling to develop a new economic area on the north side of the city of Marseille.
The northern part of Marseille, better known as the Quartiers Nords, is a combination of several districts that have the highest poverty and crime rates in France, as much as 28% the population lives with an income of under 630 euros or approximately 10 Millions if disbursed.
This poverty factor led to various criminal syndicates in Marseille. Some well-known criminal modes of Marseille include the Marseille Snare mode of ATM card theft and the French Connection heroin mafia of Corsica.
Today, Quartiers Nords is still famous for its drug trafficking network and mafia. Although the heroin mafia from Corsica is not as rampant as before, but now it is the children of immigrants who run a mafia network of marijuana and cocaine.
Euromediterranees are development, young people, and the digital economy, the image of inequality, poverty, and inherent criminality has been tried to erode by the Marseille City Government. Since the momentum of Marseille as the cultural capital of Europe, Marseille has made various improvements.
Along with the decline of the conventional port sector, and the spread of inequality and poverty, Marseille seems to have determined the direction of transformation needed to deal with change.
Various development projects, urban improvement, and digital economic transformation have been realized by the City Government of Marseille. The centerpiece of all these improvements is still a mega project called Euromediterranee. In this mega project, the Marseille City Government is targeting to build 550,000 m2 of office locations, create 37,000 new jobs, and repair around 7,000 homes. The location of the Euromediterranee project is in an area directly adjacent to the Quartiers Nords, as a symbol of the existing gap distribution efforts.
Along with the decline of the conventional port sector, and the spread of inequality and poverty, Marseille seems to have determined the direction of transformation needed to deal with change.
Marseille also pays great attention to the economy based on science and technology, research, management of digital-based port logistics, strengthening the service sector, fostering start-up businesses, etc, and the implementation of various innovation projects that promote youth creativity.
The transformation of Marseille that has been rolled out for approximately the last decade has succeeded in making Marseille a comfortable, more friendly, and future-oriented city.
It seems the imagination of France needs to change. In addition to enjoying the pain au chocolat in Trocadero, we can also fantasize about enjoying the expanse of the sea and blue sky typical of Cote d’ while eating kebab galette sauce algerienne in Marseille, the second largest city in France with a distinctive culture and stunning scenery.
However, the city's most enduring characteristic is its readiness to welcome change. Its architecture retains a bit of the remnants of the past. Several landmarks, such as the transport bridge that crossed the Old Port of Vieux-Port and the Panier district to the north of the port, were destroyed by German occupation forces.
But now many changes have been made by Marseillais himself. Apart from the legends attached to them, they are also unsentimental people and open to new ideas.
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Notes,
The author parses a little about Marseille France, so that our insight is wider. Thanks though.
