Tribune. I am one of the 101 mayors of France who signed an open letter to the President of the Republic on November 16. We have taken this initiative to alert the highest figure in the state to the seriousness of the situation in towns and working-class neighborhoods. We are mobilizing so that our territories are not the big ones forgotten by the government’s recovery plan. And we ask that at least 1% of the 100 billion of this national plan be allocated without delay to the distress and emergencies that afflict our municipalities.
Of course, the very difficult situation in the neighborhoods, where the vast majority of poor people live, does not date from the health crisis that we have been facing for nine months. This situation has even deteriorated markedly in recent years for lack of vigorous public intervention, as recommended by the “Borloo plan”, which has been forgotten by government action. But the health, economic and social crisis, its suddenness, its brutality, its magnitude, has made everything worse. It has a multiplier effect in already weakened territories.
I will talk about my municipality because it is the reality that I know best, knowing that many cities that resemble us face an identical situation. In Nanterre, most of the social exclusion indicators are red. Youth unemployment jumped 21% in 2020 and job vacancies fell 36% in the same period. Long limited to the winter period, food aid, carried by admirable associations of dedication with our support, is now organized all year round, and a record number of 1,270 families can still feed themselves thanks to this. device. The lack of money in many households is reaching such proportions that we have had to increase urgent social assistance by 140%.
The almost total cessation of culture and sport
The other devastating effect of this crisis is the almost total cessation of culture and sport in our municipalities for nine months. And this is not just a distraction or a feeling of well-being. Because in working-class cities, no doubt more than elsewhere, culture and sport create social ties, positive points of reference and education. They participate in an open, free and emancipating vision of society. They allow a considerable number of young people, and especially young girls, to build a personality, to overcome setbacks, to avoid isolation.
However, in this area, many associations are on alert. The Nanterre sports club, which has more than 15,000 licensees, suffers a net loss of 30% of its resources and above all, when the link is broken for so long, we know that the reconstruction will be difficult, will take time and risk leaving of the world on the wayside. And what about the situation of these cultural associations or these artists’ collectives which intervene in these districts and whose projects are at a standstill, fearing above all that they will not be able to restart in the coming months, due sufficient resources, both human and financial.
In such a situation, leaving the municipalities to fend for themselves would be irresponsible. Restoring hope and confidence to the inhabitants of the popular peripheries should on the contrary be considered a major objective of the post-Covid period. And frankly, who can consider our request to devote 1 billion euros out of the 100 mobilized by the recovery plan to be excessive?
From food aid to urban renewal
I can guarantee that in Nanterre, this money will be spent usefully. It will go to food aid, to youth projects focused on employment and training, to strengthening our public health actions, to cultural and sports associations, to academic success, to a popular ecological transition, to the fight against violence against women, better security for residents, prevention and mediation.
The other priority which should benefit from the recovery plan is the social and urban renovation of working-class neighborhoods. We will only put an end to the vulnerability of these territories through massive public intervention, and it must be reiterated on this subject that the idea that city policy has swallowed up floods of public money in these neighborhoods without tangible results, is a real fable. The truth is that the second national urban renewal program, which concerns more than 450 neighborhoods, has been constantly cut back. The truth is that between working-class towns and towns between themselves, the gap has widened even further, and territorial segregation has never been so blatant, especially in the metropolis of Greater Paris.
At a time when it is so much about the weakening of the link with the values of the Republic, the best way to show that the Republic does not abandon any of its children is to allow the millions of inhabitants of working-class neighborhoods to live differently, d ” access employment, have decent income to get by, and be the first beneficiaries of the ecological transition. This is why the resources allocated to the National Urban Renewal Agency must be significantly increased, as recommended by the Borloo plan, so that the level of transformation of these districts is up to the expectations of those who live there.
The aftermath of Covid can be thought about and decided now. For those who are weakened and worried by the crisis the most, this aftermath is feared. It is up to us to ensure that it is a source of hope and of renewed confidence in public action.
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Patrick Jarry mayor of Nanterre, metropolitan councilor
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