“Anti-ghetto” measure in Île-de-France: Valérie Pécresse wants in particular to “avoid Islamism”

The president of the Region, Valérie Pécresse, who spoke at a regional council meeting, defended "the objective" of "avoiding confinement, avoiding ghettoization, avoiding communitarianism and avoiding Islamism". She was responding to a question on this measure - described as a "shameful clause" by a representative of the communist opposition, Didier Mignot, at the start of the plenary session.

The communist group denounced in a press release “a serious slippage”.

This anti-ghetto ceiling desired by Valérie Pécresse was adopted in mid-July in the regional development plan and must come into force in 2024.

Its "objective is to restore social diversity in working-class neighborhoods", as well as "social advancement" and "success in educational establishments", also justified the former candidate for the presidential election.

The measure is part of the Île-de-France development plan, the region's master plan (Sdrif), which must govern its development until 2040 and is binding on local elected officials in their town planning plans.

“We no longer want a neighborhood deserted by the middle classes and we no longer want a ghetto,” claimed Ms. Pécresse, affirming to achieve “real social diversity everywhere in Île-de-France”.

“In Neuilly?” replied an elected official from the benches of the left-wing opposition. Neuilly, a town with a wealthy population located west of Paris, had only 6,8% social housing in 2020.

Eight days ago, sixty elected officials from Île-de-France signed with the president of the Communist Left group, environmentalist and citizen Céline Malisé two letters addressed to the Minister of Housing Patrice Vergriete and to the regional prefect Marc Guillaume to cancel the ceiling.

At the end of June, the preliminary draft of the Sdrif was rejected by the State because it did not guarantee that it would be able to carry out its housing policy in particular.

The application of the so-called "anti-ghetto" clause, which "slows down the production of social housing" in areas already well endowed, "would lead to a 21% reduction in average social production" compared to recent years, deplored Prefecture.