Nowhere does nostalgia quite like Paris. The gothic buildings, the ornamental fountains, the gilded walkways across the river Seine – all are intricate reminders of a city inextricably linked with its past. But take a closer look at the French capital today. Thanks to falling but still relatively high property prices in upscale neighbourhoods and continued overcrowding in the less wealthy ones, the city is beginning to rethink both its overall size and its aesthetics.

New arrondissements are being revamped, with trendy cafés, shops and building owners converting loft spaces. Even more strikingly, new high-rise structures are about to grace the city’s skylines for the first time since Jacques Chirac, then mayor, banned them in the 1970s. At long last, Parisians are moving out and up and, in the process, trading in their traditional, classic homes for cutting-edge, contemporary ones.