Are large-scale regeneration plans favouring the replacement of poor by rich in Paris?

Abstract

In order to fight the problem of the replacement of the lower classes by the middle and upper classes, the City of Paris is pursuing an urban policy based on the principle of a social mix. Today, the creation of social housing in large urban development projects is perceived as the best opportunity to implement this principle, even at the cost of substantially altering existing dwelling structures and the urban context. In order to discuss the role of these projects in the transfer or the maintenance of the lower classes in Paris, this paper compares the Clichy Batignolles project, an urban redevelopment project based on the principle of social mix, with the conditions of the working class neighbourhood in which the project is set. The objective of this comparision is to examine urban development in terms of the results which the City of Paris did not envisage, on the context, in terms of social change.