Renovating Social Public Housing or Developing the Territory? Considering the Social Mix Created by the Urban Renewal Programme in the Popular Districts of Bordeaux’s Metropolis
Considering social mix in urban renewal policies in France digs out tensions between the logic of a national, centralized policy and local development initiatives. This study is focused on four municipalities in the suburbs of Bordeaux and is based on semi-structured interviews carried out over several years with residents and interviews with policy-makers. Our hypothesis emphasizes the contribution of the local development coalitions to articulate public policies from a broader perspective, to take into account a territorial project on the requirements of national policies. Social diversity is part of the rhetoric of urban policies and the main target of the State and its agencies. In spite of that, the prevailing options remain poorly effective and impairing to the improvement of the social mix. This local and careful piloting partly neutralizes the social violence induced by urban renewal. However, it does not avoid the effects of social heterogeneity, which is worsened by the rise of agglomeration powers at the expense of mayors.