{{Short description|Suburb of a large city, especially in France}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} [[File:2018-0525-sous_l_eau-001.jpg|thumb| Sarcelles, ten miles to the north of Paris, is an example of a low-income banlieue.]] [[File:Neuilly 3.JPG|thumb|upright| Neuilly-sur-Seine, adjacent to Paris's 16th arrondissement, is an example of a high-income banlieue.]] In France, a '''{{lang|fr|banlieue}}''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|b|ɒ|n|ˈ|lj|uː}};<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=banlieue |encyclopedia=Lexico UK English Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/banlieue |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130112419/https://www.lexico.com/definition/banlieue |archive-date=2020-11-30}}</ref> {{IPA|fr|bɑ̃ljø|lang|LL-Q150 (fra)-Fhala.K-banlieue.wav}}) 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, 80{{nbsp}}percent of the inhabitants of the Paris metropolitan area live outside the city of Paris.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-04-28 |title=Paris Suburbs - les Banlieues |url=http://parisbynumbers.com/2008/04/28/paris-suburbs-les-banlieues/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106005635/http://parisbynumbers.com/2008/04/28/paris-suburbs-les-banlieues/ |archive-date=2009-01-06 |access-date=14 August 2013 |website=Paris by Numbers}}</ref>
Beginning in the 1970s, the term {{lang|fr|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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lepoutre |first=David |title=Coeur de banlieue: codes, rites, et langages |publisher=Odile Jacob |year=1997 |lang=fr}}</ref> {{as of|2025}}, in France, approximately 1,500 suburbs are home to more than 5 million people.{{cn|date=August 2025}}
==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.<ref name="OE Banleuca">{{cite web |last1=Harper |first1=Douglas |title=banleuca |url=https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=banleuca |website=www.etymonline.com |publisher=Douglas Harper |access-date=1 October 2023}}</ref>
==History== [[File:INSEE-ville-metropole-FR.png|thumb|250px|An illustration of the terms ''Ville-centre'' (city proper), ''Banlieue'' (suburb), ''Couronne périurbaine'' (peri-urban ring), ''Unité urbaine'' (urban unit) and ''Aire urbaine'' (urban area), by INSEE]] 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.<ref>Modern Industrial World: France by Mick Dunford, Wayland Publishers Ltd, 1994</ref>
===Geography of the banlieues=== thumb|249x249px|The west of Paris and its suburbs is dominated by middle- and upper-class residents, while the northeast has a large concentration of residents living in poverty.
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 ==== [[File:Cimetière St Ouen Seine St Denis 2.jpg|thumb|Example of a low-income banlieue Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine]] 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 department with Villennes-sur-Seine, Chatou, Croissy-sur-Seine, Le Pecq, Maisons-Laffitte but also in the Essonne and Seine-et-Marne 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.<!--French spelling for Russian names--> <!--So? What about English spelling for Russian names & why not try Russian spelling *Ю́рий Алексе́евич Гага́рин* ???/signed: FW-->
==== 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.<ref>Anne-Marie Thiesse (1997) Ils apprenaient la France, l'exaltation des régions dans le discours patriotique, MSH.</ref> However, it is in the ''banlieues'' that the young working households are found that raise children and pay taxes<!--inhabitants in banlieues défavoriées rarely pay income tax but pay sales tax--> but lack in public services, in transportation, education, sports, as well as employment opportunities.<ref>[http://www-ohp.univ-paris1.fr ''La ville mal aimée''], colloque de Cerisy-la-Salle, juin 2007.</ref>
==Crime and protests== {{More citations needed|date=October 2021}} Since the 1980s, petty crime has increased in France,{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}} 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 France in 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, certain ''banlieues'' are perceived to have become unsafe places to live,{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}} and youths from the ''banlieues'' are perceived to be one important source of increased petty crimes and uncivil behaviour.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}} This criminality was addressed by {{Citation needed|date=May 2017}} 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.<ref name="Gross, Joan 1994">{{cite journal |last1=Gross |first1=Joan |first2=David |last2=McMurray |first3=Ted |last3=Swedenburg |title=Arab Noise and Ramadan Nights: Rai, Rap, and Franco-Maghrebi Identities |journal=Diaspora |volume=3 |issue=1 |year=1994 |pages=3–39|doi=10.1353/dsp.1994.0010 |s2cid=144031230 }} Reprinted in {{cite book |first1=Joan |last1=Gross |first2=David |last2=McMurray |first3=Ted |last3=Swedenburg |chapter=Arab Noise and Ramadan Nights: ''Rai'', Rap, and Franco-Maghrebi Identities |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KThS-cEomBYC&pg=PA198 |pages=198–230 |editor1-first=Jonathan Xavier |editor1-last=Inda |editor2-first=Renato |editor2-last=Rosaldo |year=2002 |title=The Anthropology of Globalization: A Reader |publisher=Blackwell |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-631-22233-0}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Gross, Joan 1994" />
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.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}
=== 2005 riots === {{Main|2005 Paris suburb riots}}
Violent clashes between hundreds of youths and French police in the Paris banlieue of Clichy-sous-Bois began on 27 October 2005 and continued for more than 17 nights.<ref>BBC News Timeline: French Riots, 14 November 2005 – retrieved 14 March 2010 https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4413964.stm</ref> The 2005 Paris suburb riots were triggered by the deaths of two teenagers (of black and Maghrebi descent) allegedly attempting to hide from police in an electrical substation, who were electrocuted.<ref>Emilio Quadrelli, Grassroots Political Militants: Banlieusards and Politics, Mute Magazine, May 2007 {{cite web|url=http://www.metamute.org/en/Grassroots-political-militants-Banlieusards-and-politics |title=Mute magazine - Culture and politics after the net |access-date=31 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011030526/http://www.metamute.org/en/Grassroots-political-militants-Banlieusards-and-politics |archive-date=11 October 2008 }}</ref>
=== 2020 riots === From 18 April 2020, Paris saw several nights of violent clashes over police treatment of ethnic minorities in the banlieues during the COVID-19 lockdown.<ref>{{cite news |title=Police clash with residents in Paris suburbs amid lockdown |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20200420-police-clash-with-residents-in-paris-suburbs-amid-lockdown |work=France 24 |date=20 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Violence flares in tense Paris suburbs as heavy-handed lockdown stirs 'explosive cocktail' |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20200421-violence-flares-in-tense-paris-suburbs-as-heavy-handed-lockdown-stirs-explosive-cocktail |work=France 24 |date=21 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Unrest, hunger and hardship in France's locked-down suburbs |url=https://www.euronews.com/2020/04/23/unrest-hunger-and-hardship-in-france-s-locked-down-suburbs |work=Euronews |date=23 April 2020}}</ref>
=== 2023 riots === {{Main|Nahel Merzouk riots}}
==Filmography== A number of films, both fiction and documentary, have focused on the banlieues. A selection are listed below. * ''L'amour existe'', Maurice Pialat, 1961 * ''Two or Three Things I Know About Her'', Jean-Luc Godard, 1967 * ''Elle court, elle court la banlieue'', Gérard Pirès, 1973 * ''Série noire'', Alain Corneau, 1979 * ''La Haine'', Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995 * ''100% Arabica'', Mahmoud Zemmouri, 1997 * ''Ma 6-T va crack-er'', Jean-François Richet, 1997 * ''Games of Love and Chance'', Abdellatif Kechiche, 2004 * ''District 13'', Pierre Morel, 2004 * ''La Journée de la jupe'', Jean-Paul Lilienfeld, 2008 * ''Neuilly Yo Mama!'', Gabriel Julien-Laferrière, 2008 * ''Tout ce qui brille'', Géraldine Nakache, 2010 * ''Beur sur la ville'', Djamel Bensalah, 2011 * ''Porn in the Hood'', Franck Gastambide, 2012 * ''On the Other Side of the Tracks''', Bertrand Tavernier, 2012 * ''Girlhood'', Céline Sciamma, 2014 * ''Dheepan'', Jacques Audiard, 2015 * ''Divines'', Houda Benyamina, 2016 * ''Les Misérables'', Ladj Ly, 2019 * ''Athena'', Romain Gavras, 2022 * ''Infested'', Sébastien Vaniček, 2023
==See also== {{Portal|France}} *Aire urbaine *Bidonville *Faubourg *Poverty in France#Bidonvilles *Sensitive urban zone
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * Bronner, Luc (2010): ''La loi du ghetto : Enquête sur les banlieues françaises'', Calmann-Lévy, Paris, {{ISBN|978-2702140833}} * Dikec, Mustafa (2007): ''Badlands of the Republic: Space, Politics and Urban Policy.'' {{ISBN|978-1-4051-5630-1}} * Glasze, Georg; Robert Pütz, Mélina Germes et al. (2012): ''The Same but not the Same: the Discursive Constitution of Large Housing Estates in Germany, France and Poland.'' ''Urban Geography'' (33) 8: 1192–1211 {{doi|10.2747/0272-3638.33.8.1192}}
==External links== {{Wiktionary|banlieue}} *[http://www.metropolitiques.eu/The-New-French-Ghettos.html ''The New French Ghettos''] by Hervé Marchal & Jean-Marc Stébé, in [http://www.metropolitiques.eu/?lang=en Metropolitics.eu], 16 December 2010. *[http://www.city-journal.org/html/12_4_the_barbarians.html ''The Barbarians at the Gates of Paris''] by Theodore Dalrymple in City Journal, Autumn 2002. *[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/31/the-other-france ''The Other France – Are the suburbs of Paris incubators of terrorism?''] by George Packer in The New Yorker, 31 August 2015. *[http://www.signandsight.com/features/470.html ''So long, Marianne''] on burning girls and burning cars in France by Alice Schwarzer at signandsight.com *[http://www.signandsight.com/features/455.html ''The price of disdain''] French author François Bon has spent years giving writing workshops to youths in the suburbs that are now being set ablaze. He looks critically at where the violence originated and with despair at where it is headed, at signandsight.com *[http://www.signandsight.com/features/500.html ''French Riots Special''] A dossier with four related feature articles as well as a comprehensive collection of international voices from ''In Today's Feuilletons'' and the ''Magazine Roundup'' of sighandsight.com *[http://ambassadors.net/archives/issue19/opinions2.htm From Paris to Cairo: Resistance of the Unacculturated] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101209073701/http://ambassadors.net/archives/issue19/opinions2.htm |date=9 December 2010 }} *[http://www.frenchrap.de/mixtapes Website featuring underground rap music from the banlieues.] *[http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40275 Troubled Suburbs Erupt Again] *{{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20060614131553/http://www.incipitblog.com/index.php/2006/05/20/eric-maurin-le-ghetto-francais-enquete-sur-le-separatisme-social-2004/ Audio book (mp3)] of the introduction and first chapter of Éric Maurin's book : Le ghetto français, enquête sur le séparatisme social
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Category:Geography of France Category:Human habitats Category:Welfare in France Category:Urbanization Category:Urban decay in Europe