In the Richest Area of Paris, a Subsidized Housing Development Is Under Fire

The empty lot in the 16th arrondissement of Paris that is the proposed site for a subsidized housing development.  

Photo: Alex Davies

In the 16th arrondissement of Paris, around the corner from the Villa Montmorency, the super-chic gated community home to both Carla Bruni and Céline Dion, stands an empty lot. 14,000 square meters large, the space, empty since 1985, is on of four proposed sites for subsidized housing apartment buildings. The problem? Many of the area's residents have rallied against the plans of the Paris city council, armed with arguments ranging from rational to xenophobic, and some even ecological.

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