Banlieue

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) that are home to large immigrant populations. People of foreign descent reside in what are often called poverty traps. 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.

Paris

The Paris region can be divided into several zones. In the northwest and the northeast, many areas are vestiges of former working-class and industrial zones, in the case of Seine-Saint-Denis 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, Bondy 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

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