Paris's urbanism laws have been under strict control since the early 17th century, particularly where street-front alignment, building height and building distribution is concerned. In recent developments, a 1974–2010 building height limitation of  was raised to  in central areas and  in some of Paris's peripheral quarters, yet for some of the city's more central quarters, even older building-height laws still remain in effect. The  Tour Montparnasse was both Paris's and France's tallest building since 1973, but this record has been held by the La Défense quarter Tour First tower in Courbevoie since its 2011 construction.