An impossible desegregation? The thwarted implementation of the reform of social housing allocations in French intermunicipalities
Type de matériel :
31
The Equality and Citizenship Law, promulgated in 2017, constitutes a major change in social housing policy in France. By reforming the social housing allocation process, this law clarifies the objective of social mix and strengthens the capacity of intermunicipal institutions to deal with the segregation of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods in French agglomerations. Based on a collective survey conducted between 2017 and 2020 on allocation and settlement policies, this article examines how the national objectives of the reform have been implemented locally. We first show that, despite the clarification of the principle of social mix and the redistribution of roles brought about by the Equality and Citizenship Law, desegregation policies still appear to be ineffective in reorganizing settlement at the scale of urban areas. The failure of the reform can be explained by both national and local dynamics. In particular, we insist on the mobilization of local actors in charge of implementation, mainly municipalities and social landlords. Without questioning the reform in its entirety, these actors often succeeded in domesticating the instruments of the law to weaken its scope. However, this has not prevented the emergence of incremental changes within local actor systems and in the space of public institutions.
Réseaux sociaux