Criticism came from the left in the aftermath of the early summer riots following Nahel’s death. On July 3, the mayor of Trappes (Yvelines) launched on France Inter: “If we do not break up the ghettos of the poor, if we continue to have on the one hand a rich France which lives between itself and a poor France which manages its misery, well it will explode regularly, we will only have our eyes to cry. Incidentally, Ali Rabeh (Génération.s) castigates these “delinquent” mayors who do not respect the Solidarity and Urban Renewal law (SRU), which obliges municipalities to have at least 25% social housing.
The same day, the deputy of Seine-Saint-Denis Clémentine Autain (LFI) abounded in Release: “We have delinquent mayors who do not apply the SRU law. (…) These rich cities are in a separatist logic, they are the anti-republicans. In ten years, we can create social diversity if we put the means into it. »
More than one in five inhabitants live in a “segregated” territory
Eighteen years after the riots that hit the suburbs, Île-de-France remains steeped in inequalities which “tend to worsen”, according to a report by the Court of Auditors published last January devoted to the territorial organization of Greater Paris. “On the one hand, spatial segregation is maintained by the constant enrichment of households and favored territories, underlined the financial jurisdiction. On the other hand, poverty takes root and spreads. Despite the SRU law, the distribution of the poorest populations has changed little, seeming to place the inhabitants of working-class neighborhoods under house arrest.
In a study released last February, the Atelier parisien d’urbanisme (Apur) precisely scrutinized the evolution of social diversity within the metropolis between 2004 and 2019. “We compared the income of inhabitants residing on small squares of 200 m with those of the inhabitants of the whole of Greater Paris, details Émilie Moreau, director of studies at Apur. If the results matched, the square was considered mixed. The further one moved away from it, finding more people with the highest or lowest incomes, the more the squares were considered to be segregated. »
A thousand municipalities in France violate the SRU law
Result: 21% of the population, or 1.4 million people, live in the most segregated territories, whether they include the richest or the poorest. Among the former, we find for example the 7th and 8th arrondissements of Paris or Neuilly-sur-Seine and Garches in the Hauts-de-Seine. Among the latter, Aubervilliers and Bobigny in Seine-Saint-Denis or Garges-lès-Gonesse and Villiers-le-Bel in Val-d’Oise.
The 17th arrondissement of Paris and Asnières-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine) have the particularity of hosting large segregated areas rich and poor, qualifying the image of social diversity of these cities at the municipal level.
Conversely, 37% of the inhabitants of Greater Paris, i.e. 2.6 million people, live in mixed sectors, i.e. 1.3 points less than in 2004. The best performers are the 13th arrondissement of Paris, Les Lilas (Seine-Saint-Denis), Malakoff (Hauts-de-Seine) or Gentilly (Val-de-Marne).
Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis), July 13, 2023. Like Bobigny or Garges-lès-Gonesse, the city concentrates the poorest populations of Greater Paris. LP/HH
“In mixed neighborhoods, we studied the distribution of housing,” continues Clément Boisseuil, project manager at Apur. We found about a third of people living in HLM, a third in the private rental stock and a third of owner occupiers. “Or more exactly 25% for those residing in social housing. A rate corresponding to the objective of the SRU law. More than twenty years after its entry into force, it remains violated by more than a thousand municipalities in France, although a majority of inhabitants can claim a HLM.
The construction of studios, a way of “inflating the rate of HLM”
“The SRU law presents a mixed record, points out Grégoire Fauconnier, professor of geography and author of the book SRU law and social mix, living together in failure? The positive element is that it encouraged the construction of HLM. Almost all municipalities have built them. It has even reconciled elected officials with social housing. Without it, territorial inequalities would have been accentuated. On the other hand, it had relatively little impact on the mix because the overall housing rate did not increase much. In the space of twenty years, the average rate of municipalities with a deficit has increased from 9 to 14%, because private housing has also been built there. »
These rates hide different realities depending on the territory. “In the SRU law, there are collective structures – homes for the elderly, student residences… – which can be considered as social housing under certain conditions. They make it possible to quickly inflate the rate of HLM by building 150 studios instead of 40 apartments. During my thesis, I noted that 35% of the housing built between 2002 and 2017 by municipalities with a deficit were collective structures. But the inhabitants of these facilities do not really bring diversity. To do this, these municipalities would have to build T4 or T5 apartments that allow families to settle there and have children who go to schools in the area. »
Generalize rent control
Beyond social housing, inequalities are also widening in the private housing stock. In recent years, only Paris and the Est Ensemble and Plaine Commune territories, in Seine-Saint-Denis, all led by left-wing majorities, have implemented rent controls to stem soaring prices.
“For this system to be really effective, it would have to be extended to the whole of Île-de-France, pleads Patrick Jarry (DVG), mayor of Nanterre and president of the Habitat and housing commission of the Greater Paris metropolis. . Today, it is not applied in areas where rents are the highest such as Paris Ouest La Défense, it is not consistent. Regulating the prices of rents would also contribute to indirectly regulating those of home ownership. »
#Ghettos #poor #ghettos #rich #social #diversity #ÎledeFrance #utopia
