Large French cities are often surrounded by areas of urban decay. Whilst city centers tend to be occupied mainly by upper-class residents, cities are often surrounded by public housing developments, with tenants being French of North African origin (from former French colonies Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia), and recent immigrants.

From the 50’s to the 70’s, publicly funded housing projects resulted in large areas of mid to high-rise buildings. These modern “grand ensembles” were welcomed at the time, as they replaced shanty towns and raised living standards, but these areas were heavily affected by economic depression in the 80’s.

The banlieues of large cities like Lyon and Marseilles, especially the Parisian banlieues (where there are 8 million residents), are severely criticized and forgotten by the country’s territorial spacial planning administration. They have been ostracised ever since the French Commune government of 1871, considered as “lawless” or “outside the law”, even “outside the Republic”, as opposed to “deep France”, or “authentic France”, which is associated with the countryside.^[18]

In November 2005, the French suburbs were the scene of severe riots sparked by the accidental electrocution of two teenagers in the outskirts of Paris, and fueled in part by the substandard living conditions in these areas. Many deprived suburbs of French cities were suddenly the scenes of clashes between youngsters and the police, with violence and numerous car burnings resulting in huge media coverage.

Today the situation remains generally unchanged however, there is still a level of disparity. Some areas are experiencing increased drug trafficking, whilst some northern suburbs of Paris and areas like Vaulx-en-Velin are undergoing refurbishment and re-development.