The Era of Napoleon is marked between 1799 and 1815. Its most notable aspect related to the transition from monumental urbanism to modern city planning. Napoleon’s projects included the construction of the Rue de Rivoli, the development of two stone bridges (pont d`Austerlitz and the pont d`Iéna) and two footbridges (pont St-Louis and pont des Arts), as well as planning the St. Martin and St. Denis canals and the docks at la Villette and the Arsenal. As a result, Napoleon modified the landscape to his taste. He had an affinity for majestic architecture, and thus laid out the Colonne Vendôme on the basis of the Colonne Trajane in Rome. He also began construction of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel in the courtyard of the Louvre, and of the Arc de Triomphe in the Champs-Elysées.

The ruler was visibly driven by his desire to make Paris a Roman-style capital of Europe. This project was eventually shelved, but he had already begun to tear down the ancient city and improve the traffic network. He remained suspicious of Paris, as he could never forget the Revolution. However, he governed from Paris and was pronounced Emperor at Notre-Dame. The wars were fought far away from Paris, so fortunately the city stayed calm throughout this period of the Empire.