Poor Paris suburbs count on Olympic promise

In the town center of Île-Saint-Denis, a new billboard is affixed to the wall of the local library. Kickboxing world champion Mohamed Diaby looks out with a confident smile next to a call to action: “Together, let’s go beyond our limits. ... The 2024 Olympic Games in Seine-Saint-Denis, we’re ready!”  

Mr. Diaby, who is Franco-Malian, grew up in this Paris suburb and represents the vibrant diversity of Île-Saint-Denis, one of the poorest communities in the country. He is also proof of the sense of pride and promise that the Olympics can bring to residents here.

The sprawling region of Seine-Saint-Denis – which includes Île-Saint-Denis, just northeast of Paris – will host swimming, gymnastics, and track and field events, and house the 15,000 athletes expected at the Olympic Village.   

While urban planners are making use of existing infrastructure, they have had to build much of the Olympic landscape from scratch. Paris Olympics officials say they’re committed to sustainable development and plan to leave a legacy that will benefit local communities. 

But such promises have been made before by other Olympic host cities, and here the changes have not been to everyone’s taste. Some residents worry about noise and air pollution, or that any new housing will be too expensive for them.

Still, local authorities have made a concerted effort to involve residents in the planning process. That’s providing hope that – unlike after previous Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and Athens – the new infrastructure will be used once the Games have moved on, and that it will create lasting positive change.  

“What will the legacy be of this Olympic Games? What do we do afterwards?” asks Martin Citarella, an urban planner for the regional Olympics and Sports Committee. “The Olympics can’t act like a magic wand. But our hope is that once it’s all over, the flame doesn’t go out.”    

Looking forward first 

Seine-Saint-Denis is no stranger to transformation. Once Europe’s second-largest industrial hub, the area saw a rapid deindustrialization in the 1970s that turned factories into corporate headquarters, and a power plant into a film studio complex. But it also brought high levels of unemployment among its large working-class population, striking economic inequalities, and crime.

That legacy has created extra challenges for urban planners tasked with preparing the Games: pleasing the Paris Olympics organizing committee while also honoring the area’s history and meeting the community’s needs. 

“The Olympics are an amazing event,” says Dominique Perrault, whose architecture firm is leading the design of the Olympic Village. “But for local communities, they are not a response to their needs in and of themselves.”

In the short term, Seine-Saint-Denis must build the Olympic Village – a collection of apartment complexes across three neighboring suburbs – a connecting bridge, and a new aquatics center.

But instead of leading with Olympic demands, urban designers used an atypical approach: They focused first on how Seine-Saint-Denis should look after the Games.

In 2017, local entrepreneurs were asked to come up with ideas. Urban planners met with Seine-Saint-Denis mayors about their aspirations for the Olympic Village, while mayors held citizen forums and met with nonprofits and parent groups to maximize public participation. The Olympic Village is now an expanded version of a project for an eco-village that was already underway.

“We had envisioned this environmentally friendly space before Paris was even selected to host the Olympics,” says Mohamed Gnabaly, the mayor of Île-Saint-Denis. “The Olympics have just accelerated that transformation.”

In 2025, the village will be reconfigured into 2,400 housing units – with up to 40% of them set aside as public housing – alongside schools, hotels, and a 5-acre park. The Games have also pushed forward construction of what will become one of the largest metro stations in the region as part of a broader project to extend Ile-de-France’s regional train network by 120 miles. 

There is hope that this investment will have knock-on effects, boosting a region bursting with youth and a vibrant startup culture but weighed down by a reputation for crime.

“More people are starting to see Seine-Saint-Denis as a young, hip place to be, where there’s this great urban arts scene,” says Hafida Guebli, a startup founder and advocate for public housing tenants in Saint-Denis. “I see these new buildings being put up and lots of good things coming. But we’ll have to see if [local leaders] keep their promises to us.”

Free tickets – a good start 

Not everyone is enthusiastic about the changes. A Seine-Saint-Denis parents’ association has expressed concern about the effects of air pollution on schoolchildren, as construction continues. Others say the Olympic Village renovations don’t include enough green space. 

And although the Olympic Village is supposed to provide housing after the Games, some local residents worry that it won’t be affordable. In Île-Saint-Denis, 75% of the population currently lives in state-subsidized homes. 

“Who is going to buy [a home] here?” wonders Cécile Gintrac, a Saint-Denis resident who heads up the Vigilance Olympic Games 2024 citizens group. “We’re largely a poor district. I’m not against new people coming in, but this is only going to increase the gap between rich and poor.” 

Mr. Gnabaly, the mayor, says he wants to focus on selling to families, ensure diversity, and avoid gentrification. But the Olympics will inevitably change the social and economic dynamics of the area, especially as improvements to the subway system make it easier to get there. 

Within the athletic community, though, there is little doubt about the opportunities the Olympics will bring. The region has a serious lack of sports facilities; soon it will have some of the best in the world. And venues like the new aquatics center could become a democratizing force for local residents.

In Île-Saint-Denis, Mayor Gnabaly has taken things a step further. Early on in the process, he organized a deal with Olympics officials to provide each resident with a ticket to an Olympics event.  

While a free ticket to the Olympics may not address the concerns about housing or pollution, local leaders hope it will bolster an appreciation of how positively the Games might change Seine-Saint-Denis, now and in the future.  

“Right now, there’s lots of construction and noise. It’s been difficult for people,” says Mr. Gnabaly. “But later on, all of this will be for them.”