Urban renewal and housing : associations and collectives present their bill to MPs

On November 30, 2022, 6 collectives of residents, with the associations APPUII, the Urban Renewal Commission of Etouvie, Pas Sans Nous and the Fondation Abbé Pierre, and the support of Vox Public, presented their bill to democratize urban renewal and housing. Sponsored by François Piquemal (LFI-NUPES) and Charles Fournier (EELV-NUPES), this meeting allowed the ten or so NUPES and Renaissance deputies present to listen to the observations made by the mobilized residents’ groups and to react to the associations’ proposals.

It is 9 am, the collectives and associations are waiting for the arrival of the last late deputies. The meeting begins. Charles Fournier and François Piquemal explain the reasons which pushed them to sponsor this event. The first one reminds his commitment for democracy and his wish to allow citizens to be bearers of legislative initiatives. The second underlines his continuous activism against poor housing and the problems posed by urban renewal.

After this brief introduction, Xavier from the Étouvie Urban Renewal Commission in Amiens recounted the genesis of this initiative, from the mobilization against the demolition of one of the buildings in the neighborhood to a joke taken seriously by MP François Ruffin. In turn, Romain of APPUII association goes back over the explanations of the proposal : fallacious urbanistic arguments, exorbitant ecological, economic and social costs, lack of democracy... Each argument is illustrated. Fatima of the DAL 78 Committee explains that in Valibout in Plaisir, the town hall plans to demolish buildings that have just been rehabilitated less than a year ago. Houcine from the Bois de l’étang collective in La Verrière tells of the presence of the police at each consultation. For Florian, a resident of Alma Gare in Roubaix, the consultations were only by videoconference...

Even though Mrs. Lysiane Métayer, Renaissance deputy for Lorient (Morbihan) illustrated a successful consultation and renovation, the majority of the other deputies agreed with the observations made. They emphasized the complexity of these projects and the strong influence of the ANRU in the choice of operations.

Bénédicte from the national coordination Pas Sans Nous explains the 4 proposals defended by the collective of associations, which you can find in full here in French :

• create a « citizens democracy fund » to allow the financing of collective organization of citizens and possibilities of independent counter-expertise ;
• guarantee the right to information and initiative of the inhabitants in urban planning to co-construct urban renewal policies ;
• guarantee a neutral, fair and independent moderation of the consultation  ;
• organize « accountability assemblies » at the request of citizens throughout the urban renewal process.

In this period of tenant elections, she also stresses the importance of allowing tenants’ associations to be able to run for office without being affiliated to a national federation, which is no longer possible.

The collectives illustrate very concretely this or that proposal. Ida from Sanitas in Tours presented how the technical support was necessary to be able to build an alternative project and then negotiate with the city hall and Bouygues so that it could be really realized. This is also illustrated by Antonio from the Atelier Populaire d’urbanisme de Fives, in the support they provide to the residents of Alma Gare. Félix of the Fondation Abbé Pierre emphasizes the importance of financing citizen initiatives of this type to allow the direct expression of people directly concerned by the problems of poor housing.

Even if some points of clarification seem to be necessary, the proposals are generally accepted by the deputies present. François Piquemal and Charles Fournier finally concluded this meeting by envisaging follow-ups for this citizens’ bill : setting up a parliamentary commission of inquiry on urban renewal, possible bill in the framework of the « parliamentary niche » of the opposition groups, possibility of amendments in future laws on housing... The dialogue between collectives, associations and members of parliament must continue in the coming months to reinforce and advance our proposals.

All the associations and collectives present would like to thank François Piquemal and Charles Fournier for hosting this event at the National Assembly.

Source  : this report was written collectively and published on the APPUII website en janvier 2023.

VoxPublic accompanied these groups and associations in the organization and preparation of this event at the National Assembly. This is the result of regular questioning operations carried out since the presidential and legislative elections towards the parties and their candidates, then towards the newly elected deputies. This operation is realized in the framework of the partnership with Appuii, Pas sans nous, and collectives of inhabitants.