It's done! The Constitutional Council of France has just approved in its entirety the bill creating the Greater Paris Metropolis!! The bill should now be signed by the president in the coming days (perhaps before the end of the week) and become law.
The Greater Paris Metropolis (
Métropole du Grand Paris in French) will officially come into existence on January 1, 2016. It will absorb at least 124 presently independent communes (which will remain in existence, but will be under the authority of the Greater Paris Metropolis), with a population of at least 6.7 million inhabitants. Some more communes can join before the autumn of 2014, so we will know the exact territory and population of the Greater Paris Metropolis only next autumn, but the figures I'm giving here are the minimum figures (if no other commune joined).
It's the greatest day in the administrative history of Paris since the act of 1859 which enlarged the city of Paris by absorbing the then suburbs of the city!
This map shows the minimum extent possible of the Greater Paris Metropolis (more communes may join before the autumn of 2014), with its 124 communes. In green are parks, woods, and airports. In pale yellow are built-up and industrial areas.
Satellite view showing the north-western border of the Greater Paris Metropolis (minimum extent). As you can see, many dense suburbs are still lying beyond the borders of the future Greater Paris Metropolis:
