Site of the future construction of a homeless reception center on the outskirts of the Bois de Boulogne in Paris
According to RFI (International French Radio), opponents simply disrupted a recent public presentation of the project, verbally abusing a high-ranking official from the prefecture of the capital region. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls reacted to the scandal.
Last Monday, on France Info radio, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo returned to the controversial project of building a temporary homeless shelter in the 16th arrondissement. "Of course we will build it. You can count on me for that," the mayor said. To residents opposing the shelter, she reminded that the 16th arrondissement is the only one in Paris without such a facility. "Every arrondissement must show solidarity," Hidalgo believes, urging angry residents to overcome "completely irrational fears" about the future homeless center.
The Paris city council's project has been stirring up residents of the chic and wealthy 16th arrondissement for several months. Tensions are not abating, and opponents of the homeless center are fully supported by the arrondissement's mayor, known right-wing politician Claude Goasguen.
Paris authorities aim to end the exceptional status of the 16th arrondissement, which until now has had no temporary homeless shelters. There are 78 such centers in Paris, hosting up to 30,000 people daily who call the homeless helpline at 115.
The new center will open in June on the outskirts of the Bois de Boulogne. Along the Allée des Fortifications, between the Porte de la Muette and Porte d'Auteuil, six prefabricated buildings accommodating 200 people are planned. The center is intended to operate for three years. The state will cover most of the funding (€4 million), with €800,000 from Paris city hall. The charity organization Aurore, which specializes in helping the homeless, will run the center.
A protest petition against the center in the Bois de Boulogne has been signed by over 40,000 residents of the 16th arrondissement. The most active opponents are constantly campaigning at the future construction site, handing out leaflets to passersby. Participant Christophe Blanchardiniac explained to BFMTV why he opposes a homeless shelter in his neighborhood: "This is not a place intended for housing. It's a place for walking and recreation. Look – people walk their dogs here, come with children and strollers, cyclists ride here. Tomorrow they'll put up a fence and build barracks for 200 people on a 200-meter stretch."
Outraged residents believe that creating a homeless center will harm the environment. They claim that no construction whatsoever is possible in the protected recreational area of the Bois de Boulogne. The Paris prefecture, however, states the opposite: construction is legal, subject to certain conditions.
Many residents do not hide their fears for their own safety, and see the mayor's decision as a challenge to the wealthy bourgeoisie, who supposedly do not want to live near the "humiliated and insulted." A resident of the 16th arrondissement, Nicole, thinks so: "We will be at risk of attacks. For those living nearby, the security threat obviously increases. That's clear. I think they didn't choose the 16th arrondissement by chance. It's like a slap in the face. There's a desire to encroach on a district that has become a symbol of prestigious neighborhoods. Why not place the homeless center next to the mayor's apartment, Mrs. Hidalgo?"
Paris city hall does not deny the symbolic nature of its decision to build a shelter in an upscale neighborhood. Solidarity with the disadvantaged must be shown by all Parisians without exception, said Paris deputy mayor, communist Ian Brossat, in an interview with BFMTV. "Every time the city hall intended to build social housing in the 16th arrondissement, it faced resistance," he says. "Each time, Paris city hall had to see its decision through. We are guided by the need to ensure social diversity and a mix of populations in the capital's arrondissements. It is unacceptable to always concentrate the poor population in the same areas. Everyone must share the effort and show solidarity. The 16th arrondissement should not remain an impregnable fortress."
On March 14, a public presentation of the future homeless reception center was disrupted by a group of angry residents. They booed the project's architect and a representative of the Paris prefecture, who came to answer all citizens' questions about their future neighborhood. It escalated to verbal abuse and almost physical assault. The French prime minister reacted to the scandal. Before National Assembly deputies, Manuel Valls stated the determination of the government and Paris city hall to see the controversial project through.
The mayor of the 16th arrondissement, known right-wing politician Claude Goasguen, sided with opponents of the shelter in the Bois de Boulogne. He expressed regret over the scandal at the public presentation, but tried to explain the high emotions. Residents and even he himself were not consulted, and everyone was presented with a fait accompli, said Mayor Goasguen in an interview with Le Figaro.
"There is no homeless reception center in the 16th arrondissement because I was never asked about it," said Claude Goasguen. "And I have never refused such a request. Frankly, the problem is that the decision was made secretly, without consulting the arrondissement mayor. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo did not talk to me about it, and I will only see the prefect on Friday, after the decision was made. People were simply presented with a fait accompli."
Mayor Claude Goasguen publicly states that he has no objections to the appearance of a homeless reception center in his district. In the 16th arrondissement there are other places where such centers could appear, and I am always ready to discuss this issue, Goasguen says, condemning the "dictate" of the Paris City Hall in resolving the controversial issue.
It is worth noting that the controversy was fueled by initial rumors that a migrant reception center was planned on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne for the masses currently arriving in Europe seeking asylum. The city hall denied these rumors, but it is unlikely to have reassured the respectable bourgeois, who are horrified by the scenes unfolding in Greece, the Balkans, Austria, or Germany.
However, in addition to concerns about their own safety and the environment, opponents of the shelter's construction also have simple financial considerations. The "undesirable" neighborhood could sharply reduce the value of luxury real estate in one of the most expensive districts of the French capital: "We paid 10,000 euros per square meter for our apartments. Now they won't be worth anything," quotes radio station Europe 1 one of the local residents opposing the reception of the homeless in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.