The Olympics were supposed to unite Paris, but ahead of the Games, the city is split

Paris is preparing to host its third Olympic Games at the end of next month. (ABC News: Andrew Greaves)

Officially, they're due to start in about five weeks. But for Pierre Rabadan, the Olympics have been going since 2020.

Back then, the former pro rugby player was spearheading Paris's preparations for the Games.

Now, he's the city's deputy mayor, and putting the finishing touches on a sporting and cultural opus he believes will transform the French capital and leave a glittering legacy.

He also has a warning for Brisbane, set to host the Olympics and Paralympics in 2032: "Don't wait."

"Eight years might seem far away, but it's tomorrow," Mr Rabadan says. "You have to manage things now."

That's ominous for the Sunshine State, where a surprise change of premier, as well as bickering over money and stadiums, have already waylaid preparations.

By March, things had become so chaotic the Queensland government was denying claims it sought advice about the cost of cancelling the Olympics altogether.

Brisbane's winning bid initially sparked excitement. But for some, it didn't last.

Now, there are questions about whether the city has signed itself up for an expensive extravagance that doesn't just overstate its economic and social benefits but tears at the very fabric of the communities it's imposed upon.

Paris has tossed aside the once-invariable Olympic rule book to create what organisers hope will be a more sustainable, cost-effective games.

For instance, the opening ceremony will be held along the river Seine, rather than a gleaming, purpose-built stadium.

In fact, only two new permanent venues have been constructed for Paris 2024, with spectators instead set to take over the city's iconic parks and buildings in swathes of temporary stands.

"Organisationally, it's more difficult, probably, but it's really exciting," Mr Rabadan says.

The deputy mayor is adamant Paris' Olympics budget of €8 billion ($13 billion) won't be exceeded, although the final bill is yet to be calculated.

That's more expensive than initial estimates, but cheaper than what it's cost previous hosts Tokyo ($19.6 billion), Rio ($19.7 billion), Beijing ($58 billion) and London ($16.8 billion).

A promising start, perhaps, but the road to the finish line remains full of hurdles.

'We don't know what to do'

Aboubakar doesn't want to be on the streets.

He arrived in Paris from Guinea earlier this year, but has found life tough, and says the Olympics haven't helped.

Initially, he was living in tents in different spots around the city.

"Each time, we are made to leave," he says. "We don't know what to do."

He's part of a group of about 200 young migrants — predominantly from East Africa — who've been occupying the Maison des Métallos cultural space in central Paris since early April.

City Hall, which runs the venue, issued a press release calling for federal authorities to help find more permanent accommodation for the group.

Programming was cancelled. The city says it's the seventh time such the building has been occupied since December.

Last month, the migrants — most of whom are undocumented and say they are children — were served eviction notices. They're due to be removed next week.

Authorities in Paris have been moving on homeless populations in the lead-up to the games. Ten temporary relocation centres have been established in other cities.

"We were invited here [Maison des Métallos] to come and have coffee. Once we got in, we said we won't go out because there are a lot of young people sleeping outside that don't have a home," Aboubakar says.

"We don't want that. We want to be accommodated. We don't want to sleep on the street. That's why we're here."

In April, hundreds of squatters were removed from an abandoned building in the Virty-sur-Seine industrial area. Busses were waiting to take the former residents out of the city.

Paul Alauzy, from the humanitarian organisation Médecins du Monde, has been tracking evictions around Paris ahead of the Olympics.

He claims a program of "social cleansing" is being enforced in the capital.

"The words can be harsh, but that's really what's happening," he says.

"This year every tent city, every slum, every squat, everybody that lives or relies on the streets is being kicked out or pushed away from Paris."

Maison des Métallos, where the young migrants have been sheltering for more than two months, is set to host a Japanese cultural installation during the Olympics.

Conditions inside are basic. Everyone sleeps on the floor. Food is provided by charities. The future is uncertain.

Aboubakar dreams of studying in Paris and becoming an electrician.

"They are committed to organising the Olympics and leaving us behind," he says.

"We don't know what rights we have, and they say that France is the country of human rights."

Mr Rabadan describes homelessness in Paris as a "difficult" matter and points to the fact part of the Olympic village will be converted into social housing when the Games are over as how municipal authorities are trying to tackle it.

"The mayor of Paris has pushed a lot on that point. [We want to] use the Games to create a social legacy," he says, arguing the issue transcends Olympic preparations.

"My problem is we have homeless all year. That's the real problem."

Parisians split on value of Games

On the streets of Saint-Denis, in Paris' north, people have mixed views on the Olympics.

The densely populated working-class borough — with its sprawling housing estates and large immigrant communities — has struggled with violent crime for centuries.

It's also home to France's national stadium, where most of the athletics and para-athletics events will be held, and a new indoor arena which was built for the Games.

Authorities are hoping the Olympics have a transformative effect on the suburb. Locals, however, are split.

One woman tells us she's looking forward to them.

"It will highlight this beautiful city," she says. "Sport and Paralympic sport are also fundamental in terms of health, in terms of lifestyle and in terms of wellbeing, and I think it's really essential today.

"I hope to go and see one of the events."

Another couple say they're planning to leave, and that the preparations have been a mess.

"For example, there is still construction that is not finished," they say.

"It's been talked about at length, and it won't be finished for the Olympics, so it's going to be a bit complicated to walk around and enjoy it when there are still a lot of problems."

Mr Rabadan says the Olympics have accelerated several projects in the city, including building masses of new bike paths and cleaning up the Seine, in which some events, like the open-water swimming and triathlon, will be held.

Paris, which is roughly 200 kilometres inland, will soon have three "beaches", where people can swim.

The city's mayor, Anne Hidalgo, as well as President Emmanuel Macron, are next Sunday planning to have a dip to prove their efforts have been a success.

But even that massive environmental project, which has cost an estimated $2.3 billion, is not universally popular.

Upstream, some people say they're planning to "take a shit in the Seine" as part of an anti-Olympics protest to disrupt the photo opportunity.

The deputy mayor concedes life for Parisians over the course of the Games could be "difficult".

But Mr Rabadan is philosophical about the backlash, saying he was warned there'd be negativity as the event got closer.

He accepts some Parisians will leave while the Olympics and Paralympics are on.

"I don't think it's a good option, but if they want to do it, they can," he says.

"The people who are here will probably have memories for the rest of their life."

'Show the world what's really happening in your city'

Brisbane was selected to stage the 2032 Games after a new process effectively created a one-city race.

But serious bids to host the world's biggest event have been dwindling for years.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) convinced Los Angeles — which had also been eying the 2024 Games — to abandon its proposal in exchange for getting them in 2028.

As powerbrokers search for new avenues to secure the Olympics' future, activists are promising to find ways to disrupt it.

Despite what its name suggests, the NOlympics LA coalition is broader than just Los Angeles. They're looking at Brisbane, and beyond, highlighting issues such as homelessness and heavy-handed law enforcement as their main concerns about the Games.

"We're not the kind of campaign that wants to just push the Olympics into another city," Gigi Droesh, one of the group's organisers, says.

"We don't think that there can be guardrails put on it. We don't want a kinder Olympics. We want the Olympics to stop happening everywhere. We want the IOC to stop existing. We don't we don't want any Olympics ever."

This year marks the third time Paris has held the Olympics. When the city first staged them in 1900, the modern Games were in their infancy. It was, by most accounts, a bit of a disaster.

Few people had heard of them, and even fewer knew they were happening in the city.

On competing in the last Paris Games, Australian sprinter Stanley Rowley reportedly described the events as "an insult" to the concept of competition, and said entrants treated them as "a huge joke".

Over the subsequent decades, they became a global behemoth, and among the pinnacles of human sporting endeavour.

Australians have celebrated a myriad of Olympic moments. Who could forget Cathy Freeman's nation-galvanising 400-metre gold in Sydney almost a quarter of a century ago?

Now, however, the Games' future is arguably less certain than ever.

Organisers in Paris believe they're crafting something historic this time, and hope their efforts will bring people together.

That's something they don't seem to have managed to do quite yet.

Mr Alauzy accepts the Paris Games will go ahead, but he now sees them as an opportunity to make a point.

And that's something he wants disillusioned people in the Queensland capital to keep in mind over the next eight years.

"Brisbane, you're going to be able to show the world what's really happening in your city and in your country," he says.

"So you need to seize that and you need to mobilise. It's a really a David and Goliath story … but you need to prepare now because it's a huge machine, and it's hard to stop."