The observations of the 2005 report confirm what already appeared in the review for 2004: an accumulation of problems of the same nature but also a wide diversity of situations from one critical urban area (ZUS) to another and, no doubt, within the same ZUS. Income, crime, employment and unemployment, amenities, settlement changes, resources and responsibilities of communes, all characteristics of ZUS but to differing degrees.

Created by the planning and programming law for cities and urban renewal of 1st August 2003, the National observatory of the critical urban areas has the task of measuring the trend in social inequalities and development discrepancies in ZUS. Every year, a report is to be drawn up which will be the subject of a national debate on urban policy, its trends, its priorities, and the means used. The Observatory’s first report was produced in 2004.

First of all this report highlights the emphasis of residential mobility in critical urban areas. It also emerges that economic and social difficulties remain in the ZUS. In the field of employment, the unemployment rate was around 21% in 2004, i.e. twice the national average. ZUS comprise half as many medical establishments on average as within their communes or urban units. These areas are characterized by limited excessive crime in relation to their environment. Finally, the number of companies setting up in urban free zones rose by 10% between 2003 and 2004, with a clear predominance of company service sectors and construction and transport companies.

Délégation interministérielle à la ville (DIV), Observatoire National des Zones Urbaines Sensibles
Philippe Choffel, tel. +33 1 49 17 45 85

24/10/2005

National Observatory of the Critical Urban Areas

research

Urban Policy > Urban environment

Urban renewal