Spatial determinism and territorial public action in France: Challenges and evolutions

Abstract

The French policy called "politique de la ville" that was institutionalized in the 80s, aimed to manage social contemporary problems of low cost housing built by the state in the 50s and 60s at the peripheries of cities following grand schemes ("grands ensembles"). Based on the study of the actors of this policy since its beginnings and of its underlying ideologies, this article shows that these districts are managed at present following the same patterns of thinking as the ones that engendered them. Since the 60s, the criticism of these grand schemes of low cost housing carried on by slogans such as "living environment" and "urban self-management" determined an answer from public authorities. However, I argue that these responses used different terms but continued in fact on same track. An ideology of spatial determinism and an ideal of social mix span all French urban policies since the 50s, while the idea of urban participation appears and then fades away. These ideologies were and continue being inherent in understanding the relations between space and society.