Every design for La Courneuve

La Courneuve is known for its great park, the Parc départemental Georges-Valbon, which fills the north of the commune, and for the tower blocks that rose here in the 1960s. Its history is older than either. The name comes from the Latin curtis nova, the 'new estate', and the place stayed a small village for centuries before Parisian gentry made it a fashionable country retreat, with two châteaux, Sainte-Foi and Poitronville. Later its fields became the main source of legumes for the Paris region.

The memory that lingers is of a town of contrasts. From 1863, when the first big factory arrived, industrial estates sat right beside bean fields, a mix that lasted until after the Second World War. Then came the rush of council estates, and between 1962 and 1968 the population nearly doubled. Through it all the Fort de l'Est and the Moulin Fayvon stayed on the map, while the Croult, a small river that used to flood the streets, was buried underground.

Today Métro Line 7 ends at La Courneuve – 8 Mai 1945, and the Place du 8 mai 1945 Charles De Gaulle carries the same date.