Grand Paris Executive Summary (PDF 31MB) - Rogers Stirk Harbour ...

5 - BUILDING BALANCED COMMUNITIES
Summary
The social disparities present in metropolitan Paris
are a major handicap for the region and for France.
Communities in difficulty carry entire districts with
them into spirals of isolation and economic and
psycho-social depression.
Intervention must be taken in a concerted and
coordinated manner on a strategic level, but also
in a practical manner on the ground itself at a local
level.
This is a major challenge which exceeds the
capacity and means of the local municipalities and
the powers of a single communal mayor.
An ambitious national project is required, a “New
Deal”.
It is not a case of displacing communities and
pushing them further from the centre. It is a case of
sensitive integration - “Addition not substitution”
This involves the use of strategies relating to
proximity, social mix and connectivity.
Local economies need to be stimulated and help is
needed to develop local and specialised markets.
The physical isolation of some of the deprived
housing estates can directly generate the feeling of
separation that some communities experience in
relation to the rest of French society and create an
insurmountable gap between these communities
and the wealth that exists elsewhere in the Paris
region.
We propose a Social Action Plan:
••
Encourage stable communities
••
Promote long-term links at the heart of the
community between local public sector workers
and the inhabitants of the deprived areas
by rewarding those who work with difficult
communities in highly exposed jobs - such as
police officers, teachers, health care workers,
local politicians and civil servants – with an
increase in salary and status.
••
Recognise and support the active members
of these communities and those who are
considered as role models.
••
Encourage support networks
••
Make education a priority through the creation
of exemplary schools that are open to all and
adapted to the real needs of the communities
they serve. Include technical training and the
teaching of appropriate subjects and languages.
••
Reward regular school attendance
••
Ensure good transport access to support links to
jobs, other communities and the city as a whole.
••
Enable access to local jobs, particularly for
young people
••
Develop a community police service using local
police stations. Promote the local recruitment of
police officers and encourage the development
of long-term relationships as well as the creation
of familiarity with the communities they serve.
••
Provide the community with leisure facilities
and places to meet e.g. sports facilities, music
academies, cultural centres and community and
training centres
••
Encourage communication between different
generations
••
Ensure that the local socio-cultural facilities
are affordable and accessible for the local
population
••
Improve the quality of public spaces in the
deprived areas
••
Consult the community on its needs
••
Offer quality architecture in the deprived areas
that expresses respect and the desire to invest
••
Densify the areas in question through a prudent
process of intensification
••
Provide housing that is adapted to demographic
change, including large appartments for large
families and/or families comprising several
generations
••
Provide good night-time lighting and ensure
the safety of the inhabitants when they are out
at night
••
Keep the buildings well-maintained and
modernise them to meet the changing needs of
the community
••
Improve the existing buildings as part of the
changes required by the “Factor 4” energy and
environmental impact initiatives
••
Transform and improve existing buildings - e.g.
housing blocks Vassal and Lacaton in “Bois-le-
Prêtre” tower and the Roland Castro project in
Lorient
••
Put quality private housing next to and in
between other more affordable housing.
••
React quickly to signs of lack of maintenance
and dilapidation
••
Provide examples of opportunities and progress
••
Respect all French citizens whatever their
cultural origins
••
Ensure the citizens of the suburbs are visible
• • Citizenship must evolve to allow the
cohabitation of different feelings of belonging
without these being divisive.
xii Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners / London School of Economics / Arup
February 2009