User:ElainaDH/sandboxMarseille

Multi-cultural Marseille
Marseille is a city where both rich and poor neighborhoods exist, side-by-side. Although the city is not without crime, Marseille has a larger degree of multicultural tolerance. Urban geographers say the city's geography, being surrounded by mountains, helps explain why Marseille does not have the same problems as Paris. In Paris, ethnic areas are segregated and concentrated in the periphery of the city. Residents of Marseille are of diverse origins, yet appear to share a similar particular identity. An example of shared identity is seen at the public beaches, where ethnic groups sit on the sand together. Another example is how Marseille responded in 2005, when ethnic populations living in other French cities' suburbs rioted, but Marseille remained relatively calm.

Marseille served as the European Capital of Culture for 2013 along with Košice.[43] It was chosen to give a ‘human face’ to the European Union to celebrate cultural diversity and to increase understanding between Europeans. One of the intentions of highlighting culture is to help reposition Marseille internationally, stimulate the economy, and help to build better interconnection between groups. ''Marseille-Provence 2013 (MP2013) featured more than 900 cultural events held throughout Marseille and the surrounding communities. These cultural events generated more than 11 million visits.[44] The European Capital of Culture was also the occasion to unveil more than 600 million euros in new cultural infrastructure in Marseille and its environs, including the iconic MuCEM designed by Rudy Ricciotti.''

Immigration has made Marseille what it is today. Immigrants first came locally, from the greater Provence region. By the 1890's. immigrants came from other regions of France as well as Italy. Marseille became Europe’s busiest port by 1900, trading merchandise with Africa, Asia and the Americas. Marseille has served as a major port where immigrants from around the Mediterranean arrive. Marseille continues to be more multicultural. Armenians from Turkey began arriving in 1913. In the 1930s, Italians settled in Marseille. After World War II, a wave ofJewish immigrants from North Africa arrived. In 1962, when Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia became independent, French citizens from there arrived in Marseille. When most of France’s colonies gained independence in the 1960s, the city lost many jobs. Immigrants who could afford to move left and the poorest remained. For a while, the mafia appeared to run the city; then the communists became more prominent.

Multi-cultural Marseille can be observed by a visitor at the market at Noailles, also called Marché des Capucins, in old  town near the Old Port. There, Lebanese bakeries, an African spice market, Chinese and Vietnamese groceries, fresh vegetables and fruit, shops selling couscous, shops selling Caribbean food are side by side with stalls selling shoes and clothing from around the Mediterranean. Nearby, people sell fresh fish and men from Tunisia drink tea.