French Banlieues and the Consequences of Spatial Segregation

The French banlieues are suburban neighborhoods beyond city boundaries. These communities have evoked social controversy for many decades. They are usually marked by socioeconomic characteristics and diverse ethno-racial compositions leading to unfortunate stereotyping of cultural identities. The discourse surrounding the "banlieue problem" frequently involves hostility towards immigration, mostly from Africa and the Arab world.

The historical background, ongoing spatial segregation, and intense discrimination faced by banlieue residents provide a vital context for understanding recent police violence and subsequent rebellions in the banlieues. Combatting  stigmatization, improving public resources and their availability to banlieue residents,  enhancing police accountability for their violent attacks, and addressing the underlying policy issues adversely affecting these communities are needed corrections to institutional racism.

Defining the Banlieue 

The word banlieue goes beyond a simple translation of “suburbs”. In France, the word refers to suburban communities predominantly inhabited by middle- to low-income and immigrant families located on the outskirts of big cities. It indicates a different and much deeper context than a geographical area. Banlieues have been formed as peri-urban areas that are the result of socio-economic processes driven by political and economic influences. These zones are the result of population growth, immigration, and working class movements from rural areas to urban places. After World War II, the population in city centers grew. This increase, largely caused by the range of new jobs offered in urban zones, led to an expansion of French cities to accommodate the rising number of newcomers. At the same time, the appeal of urban life attracted well-to-do individuals and families because of ready access to various cultural amenities and social opportunities. As a result, lower-income households were pushed out of their neighborhoods, beyond the city periphery, and into the suburbs, creating segregated areas during the post-war industrialization period. This gentrification process also initiated a polarization between the city center and suburban populations. 

Today the banlieues are areas where ethnically-marked populations are concentrated and suffer from unemployment, poverty, and social dislocation (Angelil & Siress, 2012). The exclusion of certain communities violates their right to the city (Costes, 2010). This isolation reinforces the social and political distress suffered by the banlieue inhabitants.

Origins of the Banlieues

The French government launched its public housing system in the post-World War II period, with significant developments happening in the late 1940s and 1950s in response to a growing housing crisis. This period is often referred to as the “Glorious Thirty”, the 30-year period of remarkable economic growth between 1945 and 1975. During this time, the government provided a variety of  incentives to promote the construction of public housing units known as the Habitation à loyer modéré or HLM’s. These incentives included low-interest loans and tax benefits to encourage public and private investment in affordable housing. Additionally, the influx of migrants, both from rural areas within France and former French colonies, played a role in shaping the demographic landscape of the country, contributing to the need for increased housing. 

The banlieues have frequently been designated priority neighborhoods (Quartiers prioritaires de la politique de la ville (QPV)) in order to implement specific actions and access to public services. They have a median income below 60 percent of the national wage (1800 € / month). The residents of these banlieue QPVs have double the share of immigrants compared to the national average and have become sites of “public under-investment which penalizes the inhabitants” (Institut Montaigne, 2022) with limited access to public services. The concentration of HLMs in the suburbs since the 1970s has contributed to  a negative connotation about these areas in the public mind. 

Inhabitants of banlieues continue to fight the institutionalized racism associated with segregated QPVs. People from certain nationalities, ethnicities and social classes are assigned to a restricted area. This restriction is not reinforced by the law or government policies but rather through different socioeconomic processes that resulted in a concentration of certain groups in these areas. Zoning regulations, the location of public housing projects, and the availability of affordable housing options all affected their places of residence. Many immigrants and low-income families, the majority of whom are of Black and Arab descent as a result of France’s colonial past, have been economically pushed out of the city into banlieues where housing is cheaper. 

In France (but also generally in Europe), public housing is heavily populated by immigrants; 31 percent of immigrant households were public housing (HLM) tenants in 2017 (L’essentiel de l’immigration, 2020). A high proportion of tenants in French public housing are from North Africa, especially the Maghreb (See Figure 1). With the housing of non-European immigrants in the suburbs since the 1980s, the banlieues became associated with socioeconomic disadvantages and racial minorities. The proportion of immigrants, both European and non-European, has consistently grown as a percentage of the total French population since 1982. Within this growing immigrant population, a significant portion comprises individuals from Asian, North and Sub-Saharan African backgrounds. Consequently, the  residential segregation of non-European immigrants increased alongside the rising numbers.

Figure 1: Proportion of immigrant households living in public housing 

Spatial Segregation and Discrimination through Social Housing 

The French government prioritized quantity over quality when it tried to house the migrant worker population in social housing projects. In order to eliminate urban slums in city centers where low-income families had previously lived, they ironically created neighborhoods in the suburbs that later became underfunded and neglected. This neglect led to social explosions. A prominent example of this was the 2005 rebellion in Clichy-sous-Bois, which serves as an unforgettable example of the public’s outrage in response to racist government indifference after two teenagers died as a result of police violence. This indifference was exemplified by the government’s initial response, which lacked possible policy changes to address the concerns of marginalized communities. In response, the 2005 rebellion led to a wave of protests and demonstrations across France, as people from various communities expressed their frustration with systemic inequalities and discrimination. The lack of public resources and social services have intensified such concerns over the past several  decades. Two thirds of QPV-priority neighborhoods do not include a public employment service, exacerbating the already high unemployment rate (Institut Montaigne, 2022). Also, 40 percent of the priority neighborhoods lack public daycare centers.

The exclusion of these communities is consistent with historic and socio-spatial exclusion and neglect of the poor. A relevant example from the 19th century was the massive renovation of the French capital by Georges-Eugène Haussmann. While trying to build improved infrastructure for Paris to protect citizens from diseases and crime and to create a better designed city overall, he excluded low-income communities from the urban sphere. The construction of grand boulevards around the city center accelerated the social disruption that started at the beginning of 19th century, forcing many working-class families and businesses to relocate and putting spatial zoning in place that overtly separated the wealthy from the poor. This displacement also made the organization of these communities around popular working-class and political movements difficult. 

Figure 2: The grands boulevards built in Paris during Haussmann’s tenure (in red)

Recent Events

In France, but also in many seemingly democratic countries around the world, institutionalized racism intensifies police brutality and overall violence against minorities. This continuous violence and racial profiling from the police have stimulated periodic uprisings in the banlieues, especially over the last 40 years. While trying to categorize the residents of banlieues through spatial vocabulary, the racism and discrimination experienced by the residents is routinely overlooked. Hence, immigrants and residents of the suburbs have never been described in terms of the problems they faced, which excluded them from society, but they were defined by their alleged damage to social order because of their “differences” (Tissot, 2008). This “otherness” has paved the way for brutal assaults on the residents perceived by some police as subhuman.

A law was introduced in 2017 that gives police officers the right to use their weapons in case of “absolute necessity”, though with significant ambiguity, leaving room for interpretation based on individual officer discretion. The protests following the police murder of 17-year-old boy Nahel Merzouk reanimated the debate over police violence. Police power has frequently  been abused due to racist motives time and time again, resulting in the death of residents. The hostility between the police and the monde populaire is an old and widespread reality. The 2005 banlieue rebellions were reactions to an attempt to control the behavior of the public through various social institutions, including the police force. Although governments have changed over the years, disadvantaged groups continue to stay marginalized due to the complicity of the state with the racist police force. 

Moving forward

To put an end to the stigmatization of the French banlieues and counteract the marginalization of their residents, strong measures are needed. They include the appointment of skilled professionals, such as teachers, doctors, and social workers, to relevant institutions serving the banlieues. Furthermore, increased financial resources for public services, including daycare centers, schools, and hospitals, would prove beneficial and could begin to overcome the alienation of the banlieues. Additionally, directing attention and investment towards enhancing already existing systems would provide greater efficacy. Most important of all, however, is the mobilization of the working class itself. Labor action, protest, measures to enhance police accountability, and educational initiatives to confront the racism embedded within the structures of the French state could propel needed reform. The ultimate goal is to pursue the often-neglected ideals of equality, liberty, and fraternity for every individual residing in France.

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