La Défense is a major business district of the Paris Metropolitan Area, located south of the historic city center. Originally this area was the industrial suburb of Paris, where factories, warehouse and wholesale trade halls were located. The first skyscrapers were built there spontaneously, but in the 1950s a special office responsible for spatial development of the district was established. La Défense is currently the largest business center in Europe in terms of area. Only the City of London and Frankfurt, where the headquarters of the exchanges are located, are more important in terms of the movement of capital.
