Banlieu

In France, a banlieue (; ) is a suburb of a large city, or all its suburbs taken collectively. Banlieues are divided into autonomous administrative entities and do not constitute part of the city proper. For instance, 80percent of the inhabitants of the Paris metropolitan area live outside the city of Paris.

Beginning in the 1970s, the term ''banlieue'' has taken on a particular connotation, becoming a popular word for economically-deprived suburbs featuring low-income housing projects (HLMs. In present-day France (2025), approximately 1,500 suburbs are home to more than 5 million people.

Etymology

The French word banlieue is derived from the thirteenth century Vulgar Latin term ''banleuca'' composed of the German term ''ban'' meaning decree or official announcement with ''leuca'' which refers to the extension of the authority beyond the walls of a town.

History

In France, since the establishment of the Third Republic at the beginning of the 1870s, communities beyond the city centre essentially stopped spreading their own boundaries, as a result of the extension of the larger Paris urban agglomeration. The city – which in France corresponds to the concept of the "urban unit" – does not necessarily have a correspondence with a single administrative location, and instead includes other communities that link themselves to the city centre and form the banlieues.

Since the annexation of the banlieues of major French cities during the Second Empire period (Lyon in 1852, Lille in 1858, Paris in 1860, Bordeaux in 1865), French cities have extended their boundaries very little despite the growth of the cities. Almost all large and mid-sized cities in France with a banlieue have developed a ''couronne périurbaine'' (in English: peri-urban ring).

Communities in the countryside beyond the near-urban ring are regarded as being outside the city's strongest social and economic sphere of influence, and are termed ''communes périurbaines''. In either case, they are divided into numerous autonomous administrative entities.

Banlieues 89, a design-led urban policy backed by the French government, renovated over 140 low-cost estates, such as Les Minguettes and the Mas du Taureau block in Vaulx-en-Velin. Improvements were made in road and rail access, cafes and shops were built, and the towers and blocks were made to look more attractive. In Vaulx-en-Velin, for instance, shops and a library were built, houses were built to make the landscape more interesting, 2,500 homes were renovated, and the blocks were repainted.

Geography of the banlieues

The word ''banlieue'' is, in formal use, a socially neutral term, designating the urbanized zone located around the city centre, comprising both sparsely and heavily populated areas. Therefore, in the Parisian metropolitan area, for example, the wealthy suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine may be referred to as a ''banlieue'' as might the poor suburb of La Courneuve. To distinguish them, Parisians refer to a ''banlieue aisée'' (in English: comfortable suburb) for Neuilly, and to a ''banlieue défavorisée'' (in English: disadvantaged suburb) for Clichy-sous-Bois and Val-d'Oise. In the west, the population is generally upper class, and the centre of business and finance, La Défense, is also located there. Versailles, Le Vésinet, Sceaux, Maisons-Laffitte and Neuilly-sur-Seine are affluent suburbs of Paris, while Clichy-sous-Bois and Corbeil-Essonnes are less so.

The southeast ''banlieues'' are less homogenous. Close to Paris, there are many communities that are considered "sensitive" or unsafe ( Bagneux, Malakoff, Massy, Cachan, Les Ulis), divided by residential zones with a better reputation (Verrières-le-Buisson, Bourg-la-Reine, Antony, Fontenay-aux-Roses, Sceaux).

The farther away from the Paris city centre, the more the ''banlieues'' of the south of Paris can be divided into two zones. On one side, there are the banks of the Seine, where working-class residents used to live (there are still pockets of disadvantaged areas) but also other areas that are especially well off. Also are large cities close to Paris, such as Chanteloup-les-Vignes, Sartrouville, Les Mureaux, Mantes-la-Jolie, Poissy, Achères, Limay, Trappes, Aubergenville, Évry-Courcouronnes, Grigny, Corbeil-Essonnes, Saint-Michel-sur-Orge, Brétigny-sur-Orge, Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois and Fleury-Mérogis.

On the other hand, small communities that are affluent can be found in the Yvelines, Chatou, Croissy-sur-Seine, Le Pecq, Maisons-Laffitte but also in the Essonne departments: Etiolles, Draveil, Soisy-sur-Seine, Saint-Pierre-du-Perray or Seine-Port.

Paris: Banlieues rouges

The '' banlieues rouges'' ("red banlieues") are the outskirt districts of Paris where, traditionally, the French Communist Party held mayorships and other elected positions. Examples of these include Ivry-sur-Seine and Malakoff. Such communities often named streets after Soviet personalities, such as ''Avenue Vladimir-Ilitch-Lénine'' in Nanterre, or ''rue Youri Gagarine'' in Colombes.

Lyon and Marseille

The ''banlieues'' of large cities like Lyon and Marseille, like those of Paris, have also tended to suffer from a negative reputation. Ever since the French Commune government of 1871, they were and still are often ostracised and considered by other residents as places that are "lawless" or "outside the Republic", as opposed to "deep France", or "authentic France" associated with the provinces. However, it is in the ''banlieues'' that the young working households are found that raise children and pay taxes but lack in public services, in transportation, education, sports, as well as employment opportunities.

Crime and protests

Since the 1980s, petty crime has increased in France, much of it blamed on juvenile delinquency fostered within the ''banlieues''. The first riots in the banlieues that were considered as such took place in 1979 in the “La Grappinière” neighborhood in Vaulx-en-Velin, a suburb of Lyon. The residents of the neighborhood rose up against the forces of law and order and condemned the “police harassment” to which they were subjected, especially young people of North African origin. However, the recurring unrest in the cités since 1981, which reached a peak in 2005 (see Riots in France 2005), proves that the problems in the cités are far more complex than can be solved by urban development measures (such as improving the building fabric, renovating high-rise buildings) and the allocation of funding for social and cultural infrastructure. As a result, the ''banlieues'' are perceived to have become unsafe places to live, and youths from the ''banlieues'' are perceived to be one important source of increased petty crimes and uncivil behaviour. This criminality was addressed by the Front National, a far-right political party led by Jean-Marie Le Pen, which rose to prominence during the early 1990s on a platform of tougher law enforcement and immigration control.

1981 riots

In the summer of 1981, events involving young Franco-Maghrebis were met with varying reactions from the French public. Reprinted in Within the ''banlieues'', events, called rodeos, would occur, where young "banlieusards" would steal cars and perform stunts and race them. Then, before the police could catch them, they would abandon the cars and set them on fire.

In July and August 1981, around 250 cars were vandalised. Grassroots groups began to demonstrate in public in 1983 and 1984 to publicise the problems of the Beurs and immigrants in France.

2005 riots

Violent clashes between hundreds of youths and French police in the Paris banlieue of Clichy-sous-Bois

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