The Olympic Games, a gold medal for the suburbs of Paris?

Less than 500 meters separate the Stadium from France of the Francs-Moisins neighborhood, devastated by the poverty and crime, in the suburb of Saint-Denis north of Paris, that with the Olympic Games could experience its long-awaited rebirth.

Samia Achoui, a secretary who lives in one of the gray blocks hit by drug trafficking, does not have a ticket for the Games, because she is “too expensive”, but you will hear from your window the cheers and applause of the venue located on the other side of a canal.

Despite its name, the 2024 Paris Olympics will largely be held in the Seine-Saint Denis department, on the other side of the ring road that separates Paris from its poorer suburbs.

This densely populated, working-class department is home to four of the world’s largest sporting event venues, the Olympic Village and other key locations.

With the Olympic Games, from July 26 to August 11, France opted to regenerate an area that has the youngest population in the country and where a third of its 1.6 million inhabitants live below the poverty line.

Its objective is also to change the image of this department that welcomed several waves of migrants and that forged an image of ghettos ravaged by crime during the urban riots of 2005.

Despite being the final resting place of many French kings in Saint-Denis, its reputation suffered a new global blow due to the chaos recorded during the 2022 Champions League final at the Stade de France.

Popular games?

Mohamed Gnabaly is optimistic. In his opinion, the Games will help transform these suburbs, which in 2023 experienced new urban riots following the death of a young man due to a police shot.

This mayor of Île-Saint-Denis, the narrow island in the Seine where part of the Olympic Village has been built, is “obsessed” with making this appointment “popular games”.

His small municipality got 7,000 tickets, one for almost all its inhabitants. And although the construction has disrupted daily life, he is determined to make the most of the Games.

“I’ve been working on this for three years.”says Gnabaly, proud that his municipality also hosts the “Africa Station”, a fan zone dedicated to African culture and sports.

The works “Not only will they transform our town, but we will be at the heart of the reactor. “We are not going to stay on the sidelines of the Games,” he adds.

His optimism is not shared by everyone. “There is one part of Paris that will be a party, while the other will be prevented from working or circulating,” says Cécile Gintrac, from the Vigilance JO collective.

Renaissance

It’s hard to go anywhere in this department without seeing scaffolding or cranes building new neighborhoods.

The Olympic Games are part of a long-term initiative that began with the decision to build the Stade de France there for the 1998 World Cup, which France’s multi-ethnic team won.

High housing prices in Paris and the arrival of the metro to this suburb – Europe’s largest infrastructure project – have made it attractive to real estate developers.

Companies like Tesla are moving their French headquarters to former industrial areas.

“We have to find a new impulse for Sena-Saint Denis, so that employment stays”says Isabelle Vallentin, head of the company in charge of the Olympic works Solideo.

“We must rehabilitate the homes, which are very deteriorated,” he adds.

Around the 80% of the 1.7 billion euros (US$ 1.845 million) of public money for Olympic works will be invested in this department. Although private investment is more difficult to quantify, this trend is likely to continue.

Real estate legacy

The Olympic Village, which will host thousands of athletes, is the largest construction project of the Games and a whole new ecological neighborhood in itself. Its construction, in a former industrial area next to the Seine River, took six years.

But once the Paralympic Games are over, scheduled for August 28 to September 8, it will be transformed into a neighborhood of apartments and offices. The first of its 6,000 residents will move in in 2025.

But only a third of the 2,800 apartments will be sold on the open market. Paris-2024 wants to avoid accusations of “gentrification on an industrial scale” that fell on the organizers of previous events, such as London-2012.

Solideo’s Vallentin stated that they insisted that the promoters “respond first to the needs [locales] of housing.”

Thus, between the 25% and the 40% of the apartments – depending on the three municipalities that the Villa covers – will be used for social protection housing and the rest will be rented at affordable prices. “affordable”, through semi-public housing organizations.

The other great achievement in Seine-Saint Denis is the construction of new swimming pools, which the area needed, such as the spectacular Olympic Aquatic Center, in front of the Stade de France.

“Real advantage”

The Olympic infrastructures extend throughout the department and could even transform small towns, such as Dugny.

Its population will grow by a third with the construction of housing on land inherited from the Olympic media center.

Dugny, until now poorly served by public transport, hopes to diversify its housing stock, 77% of which are social, the highest rate in France.

A third of the 1,400 new homes will be allocated for access to the property. His young mayor, Quentin Gesell, claims that many of his friends who grew up in Dugny “They had to leave because they can’t even buy”having income that is too high for social housing.

Another more subtle transformation will be a series of new walkways linking areas long separated by highways and railways that run through the department, which is home to Paris’ Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport.

Near the neighborhood of Francs-Moisins, a pedestrian and cycling bridge is being built that will cross the Saint-Denis canal and connect it to the State of France, replacing an old unreliable bridge.

“Now it is a nightmare to cross”says Karene, mother of three children. “You have to fold the stroller and carry the baby in the other arm. So this is great, a real asset for the area.”

The bridge had been talked about for years, but the Games, which covered two-thirds of the 10.5 million euro ($11.4 million) construction cost, made it a reality.

The Olympic event has been “turning point that has accelerated the transformation” of these suburbs, Stéphane Troussel, president of the departmental council, told AFP.

Ephemeral jobs

But there are questions about the jobs the Games promised to offer to the department, whose unemployment rate of 10.4% It is almost a third higher than the national average.

“The Games are hiring. Get a job!”said the brochure for a job fair organized in December.

“I’ve been to many and it’s always the same,” says Fouad Yousfi, as he passes between the stands looking for cleaners and pastry chefs. “They are not the companies you would like to work for and they often pay poorly,” he adds.

Stéphane Laurent, 47, was looking for a “fast work” and left another fair with an offer to train as a security guard, a position needed for the Games.

Although, according to official estimates, some 180,000 people will work at the Games, most will have short-term contracts, such as the 6,000 hired by Sodexo to cater the Olympic Village.

“We have to be honest. “Probably, there is a mismatch between what was expected and the level of unemployment and precariousness that we have”explains Bernard Thibault, a former union leader linked to the organization of the Olympic event.

Mehdi Ourezifi, head of Services Persos, a local non-profit organization dedicated to re-employment that won part of the Olympic Village laundry contract, agrees.

“We are one of the winners,” but “Overall, local businesses and re-employment programs are disappointed”he added.

“Visibility”

Beyond the economic and infrastructure benefits, one of the greatest legacies of the Games could be the image of Sena-Saint Denis, where soccer star Kylian Mbappé grew up.

Police have already stepped up operations against drug traffickers, street vendors and other people “they monopolize public spaces,” and a massive security operation is planned during the sporting event.

But the attack on a police station last week, following the death of a young man run over by the police, and the robbery of the head of the Mongolian Olympic delegation in October do not help improve its image.

With the Games, the department hopes to write a new chapter in its history, one in which its diversity and potential are valued more than crime and sporadic riots.

Back in the neighborhood of Francs-Moisins, Karene wishes that this “visibility” benefit everyone, but warns that if we experience the chaos of the 2022 Champions League final, “the image of Saint-Denis will plummet again.”

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