Community Based Development

Study Tour Boston, Massachusetts

Centre de Recherche sur l’Habitat, Paris and Profession Banlieue, Paris

Summary Information for Aubervillier, Clichy sous Bois, Drancy, Romainville and Saint-Denis Community Based Development Study Tour March 2002

A territory next Paris:

Map of Saint-Denis:

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Aubervilliers

The City of Aubervilliers

For much of its history, Aubervilliers has been a working-class city with important manufacturing and production activities. The decline of the industrial sector in the economy has left a deteriorated industrial fabric that has remained vacant for some time. Although an effort to rebuild this productive aspect is underway, it is still not realized. Aubervilliers has a population of 63,524, which is characterized by its working-class and immigrant origins, a minimal level of education attainment, and high poverty rate.

Since the 1950s, the municipality has pushed a policy of social housing construction; today the proportion of the housing sector that is publicly financed is 40%. In addition to this social housing is a much older housing stock that for the most part is rapidly deteriorating.

The issues Aubervilliers has joined an inter-communal structure with the municipalities of Saint-Denis, Epinay, Pierrefiette and Villetaneuse. Within the context of this inter-communal cooperation, the town is pursuing important urban rehabilitation projects and has benefited from European funds. In addition, the town is engaged in a contrat de ville with the national government.

Since 1997, the town has created a “demarche quartier” – a neighborhood initiative that encompasses its 12 districts and intends to increase citizen participation in town planning and management. The initiative centers around two consultative groups: • District committees, which meet every two months to discuss issues and projects of concern in the district. They are open to all residents and are presided over by one member of the municipal council, whom the Mayor appoints. • District “boutiques”, which are storefront offices located within the neighborhoods. Staffed by individuals responsible for coordinating municipal services in the district, these boutiques are meant to improve and better integrate the town’s public services with the wishes and initiatives of residents in the area.

The Robespierre Cochennec district is composed of many small enclaves of social housing units that are managed by a municipal office. A number of these units, which are home to 2,540 residents, have benefited from significant renovation and undergone privatization with the emergence of co-ownership. On the other hand, the town has decided to demolish one of these enclaves, “Les Près Clos” (two buildings of 200 units) and two sell the parcels to a

3 Community Based Development Study Tour March 2002 private developer in order to diversify the social make-up of the population. The buildings, which were constructed in 1957 with materials of poor quality, are well below today’s standards of comfort. The population currently located there is very unstable: 64.3% of the households earn too little to be considered for income tax payments, 40% are 1-person households (whether widowed or never married), more than 25% are above the age of 60, and there are a number young adults sharing apartments. In relation to other housing options in Aubervillers, the public housing stock there is extremely affordable, making the task of relocating households problematic.

The group representing the district during the trip would like to visit a housing site that has gone through the steps of demolition and reconstruction and to meet the developer and residents, in the hopes to better understand the following issues: • In what ways and at which stage was the public brought into the planning process? What room did the residents have to negotiate? Who made the decision to demolish, and how? How was the issue of relocating residents dealt with? • What sort of public/private partnership was engaged? In the US, it seems that the City’s position is to convey the land to a private developer who will take on the task of providing the affordable housing. It is rare to see the same happen in France. How is it that the process works this way in the Boston and have the results typically been favorable?

The Gabriel Péri district is made up of two very distinct entities: a social housing apartment enclave or cité that is run by the municipal “HLM” office and an area comprised of single- family detached homes. In all, the district is home to 4514 residents, many of whom have lived in the area for some time. Within the cité, the unemployment rate is quite high (28%), leaving many households in a precarious position. These economic difficulties are less apparent in the zone single-family detached houses, however a few areas with deteriorating housing stock are present. While the population make-up in this area has tended to be of Italian and Portuguese decent, more and more households are from the Maghreb.

In general, commercial spaces in the district are deteriorated and generate little economic activity. Community associations seem to be dormant as well: although a few associations exist, they play only a minor role in the everyday life of the district.

The group representing the Gabriel Péri district would like to investigate the issues of engaging residents and creating livelier community associations that involve, in particular, young people. They would like to meet leaders of community associations to discuss the objectives and approaches of their work.

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Clichy sous Bois

With a population of 28,288, the municipality of Clichy is situated within the second ring around Paris. It is by far a residential area, with a relatively weak economic structure. In the beginning of the 1970s, the State ordered the construction of a large housing enclave located on the border of Clichy and Montfermeil. Success of the project presupposed the adjacency of a high-speed commuter line linking Paris and its suburbs. However, the rail line was never realized and as a result the area is quite isolated. For the most part the buildings in the enclave are multi-family cooperatives. Management and maintenance have been serious issues of contention for the residents. Today, Clichy is among the poorest municipalities in the Ile-de- France region: unemployment was at 23.5% in 2000. It also is home to a large foreign-born population (33%) with a low level of skill training. In the public school system, 62% of children at the pre-school and elementary level have foreign-born parents.

For the last several years, the municipality of Clichy has pursued the procedural policies of la politique de la ville and has benefited by the European program “URBAN”. It has signed a contrat de ville with the State and is working on a large urban renewal project.

The group from Clichy would like to work particularly on the issue of co-ownership of housing. In particular they are interested in the relationship between public and private, the question of organization of cooperatives, and the mobilization of funds. They would like to be able to analyze examples of cooperatives or shared ownership.

Drancy

Drancy has a population of 61,000. The housing sector within the municipality is divided into three types: single-family dwellings, market-rate multi-family, and social housing. Drancy is a working-class town, yet in relation to the rest of the Seine Saint-Denis department, Drancy is not one of the worst off. Some indicators however show a discouraging shift: an increase in the unemployment rate, an increase in the number of people receiving welfare benefits, and an increase in the number of single-parent households.

1027 units of social housing comprise the Cité du Nord, which the SNCF (the national railroad) built over the course of several phases for its workers. Over the years, the resident population has changed and is no longer made up of rail workers, but has been replaced by newcomers that are economically vulnerable. It is isolated and cut off from the rest of the

5 Community Based Development Study Tour March 2002 town by rail infrastructure, and from the rest of the district by a zone of single-family houses. This older working-class neighborhood, which once was lively, is today the site of many social and generational tensions.

The municipality has undertaken an urban renewal project, which intends primarily to improve urban links by focusing on the opening of a new train station in town. In addition, the municipality is collaborating with the owners of the Cité du Nord to come up with master plan for the district. Residents participate in the study as well through collaboration in public workshops. Lastly, Drancy plans to open a community center in the hopes of recreating dialogue between the different social groups of the area. By implicating residents at the stages of diagnostics and conceptualization, the dialogue is open early.

The group from Drancy would like to discover other ways of seeing and practicing social and urban action. More specifically, they wish to consider the issue of public participation at the various stages of urban study, urban diagnosis, and project conception. Lastly, they are interested in types of management for community centers: how can residents be co-managers?

Romainville

The municipality of Romainville has a population of 23,774. Like Drancy, it is not one of the worst off in the department. The socio-demographic make-up (counting at least those formally declared) indicates an increase in intermediate and superior professions and a decrease of working-class professions over the last few years. In addition, if the unemployment rate is close to that of the department, nearly 85% of employed individuals are working under open- ended contracts (“contrat de durée indéterminée”) or are civil service workers.

The district under question is located in Romainville’s downtown. It has been the object of a housing rehabilitation project, where owners can obtain loans and subsidies to improve their property ‘in exchange’ for promising to keep their rental units affordable and available to qualified tenants for 15 years. The population in this central district is generally more qualified, with more of a middle class make-up. The housing stock is essentially private, with small groupings of single- and multi-family units. The dynamic of change in the area rests, above all, on the initiative of private actors.

The group from Romainville is particularly interested in the notion of the public/private partnership. How does one go about encouraging a rehabilitation dynamic in an older

6 Community Based Development Study Tour March 2002 neighborhood? How does one work with private owners? In addition, this dynamic of change may lead to gentrification, so how does one improve the built environment for the population currently in place? The group would like to visit renovation projects developed by CDCs and to discuss the issues and conditions for realizing the projects.

Saint-Denis

With 86,000 residents, Saint-Denis is the second largest municipality in the department. It is also the town with the oldest historic heritage. A working-class city, Saint-Denis had until the end of the 1960s a significant and productive economic sector. De-industrialization has badly hurt the city both economically and socially, although the economic sector has begun to rebound in the last couple of years, particularly in the areas of service and research & development. As such, Saint-Denis is experiencing a double dynamic with a push towards modernization on the one hand, and social exclusion on the other. Saint-Denis’s population is quite diverse, with one part being extremely vulnerable. This is most particularly the case for those residents living in older deteriorated housing or in the social housing located at the periphery of the town. Social housing makes up almost half of the housing stock in Saint- Denis, and for the most part it is managed by the municipal housing office.

The town is part of La Plaine commune – an inter-communal administrative body. It has also signed a contrat de ville with the national government, and a part of its territory is the object of a large urban renewal project. Saint-Denis is also eligible for structural funds from the European Union.

Since 1995, the municipality has been pursuing a neighborhood planning/consultation process, that stems from public meetings and thematic work groups. These programs fall under the responsibility of an elected official, a member of city administration, and a group leader. As of this year, efforts are underway to put a participatory budget into place in order to involve citizens in budgetary decisions.

Constructed in the early 1970s to better house a population who had previously been living in informal slums, the Cité du Franc-Moisin has 2300 housing units and approximately 7000 residents. Its population is characterized by its youth (more than half is under 30 years of age), a high unemployment rate, and many large families. Saint-Denis’s working population are largely from the blue collar and hourly-wage categories. Unemployment is particularly high among young people (35.3%).

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Public action in the district includes building rehabilitation, the demolition of one apartment complex, infrastructure creation, the reconstruction of a small area of housing, the relocation of a retail center, but also the overall improvement of social life through the upgrading of public services and aid to associations.

Today, the municipality and the owner are engaged in a discussion on the issue of everyday management in the district and on improving tenant participation in civic matters.

The group from Saint-Denis is particularly interested in forms of public/tenant participation and would like to engage in a discussion on the methods that CDCs and other community groups have put in place to address this issue.

Statistical Information

Department Aubervilliers Clichy Drancy Romainville St Denis Youth less than 34.8% 33.5% 45.7% 32.1% 33.6% 35.3% 25 years Unemployment 17.2% 22.6% 23.5% 17.2% 19.3% 20.5% rate % of 18.7% 29.7% 33% 18.5% 16.3% 26.2% population being foreign- born Average ?? 36,350 f 30,218 f 45,601 f 42,910 f 36,628 f annual income % of housing 36.1% 42.2% 33.1% 33.1% 47.4% 49% units in social sector Source for above social indicators : 1999 Census

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