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Paris mega-rich raise barricades against urban poor neighbours
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| Contributor | Craverguy |
| Last Edited | Craverguy Oct 19, 2008 10:21pm |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Monday, October 20, 2008 04:20:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | When Céline Dion was reported to have paid €47 million (£36 million) for a house in Villa Montmorency last week, the industrialists and showbiz stars who live in the most exclusive district of Paris were delighted.
The Canadian singer will be a welcome addition to a gated community that includes Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the President's wife, and Dominique Desseigne, Mr Sarkozy's billionaire friend.
But soon its 120 or so homeowners are likely to be confronted by some new neighbours they would rather keep at a distance - the urban poor.
In a move that has ignited furious protests, Bertrand Delanoë, the Mayor of Paris, has approved plans for 180 council flats in Porte d'Auteuil, across the road from Villa Montmorency in well-heeled west Paris.
Its rich and famous residents have signed petitions, berated MPs and complained that tenants will be able to see into their leafy and secret world from the tower block that Mr Delanoë wants to put up. Claudie Fournier-Christol, the chair of Porte d'Auteuil Environnement, a residents' association, accused the council of bringing “suburban crime” to the doorstep of France's “biggest taxpayers”.
The project is part of a programme to increase the number of council homes in Paris from 190,000 to 230,000 over the next six years to take the pressure off a waiting list of 110,000 people. With Mr Delanoë pledging to put social housing in middle and upper-class districts in the name of la mixité sociale - a policy designed to knock down barriers between the wealthy and the impoverished - controversy is inevitable. |
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