Paris,
the forbidden city

In 2008, ahead of the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government demolished historic neighborhoods under the pretext of rehabilitating dangerous old homes. Residents received scant compensation and many were moved to the outskirts, where public transport and amenities were poor.

In Paris, ahead of the 2024 Olympics, the situation is strikingly similar. The city embarked on a vast cleansing operation, pushing homeless people and migrants out of the central arrondissements to areas on the outskirts of the capital.

This policy of social cleansing is also based on the rehabilitation of old, supposedly dangerous housing. In reality, it is a policy of exclusion — systematically removing the poor and minorities from more central and tourist areas, where they become invisible to residents and tourists alike.

Just as Beijing once was, Paris has become a forbidden city for the working classes and the most precarious.

Portrait of a man sheltering under a bridge by the Canal Saint-Martin, Paris, 2024

Sleeping bag and personal belongings on a Paris pavement at night, below a sign reading 'Caresse'

Homeless people sheltering inside a fenced urban space under a Paris flyover, 2024

Abandoned mattress and sleeping bag on the concrete floor under a Paris motorway overpass at night

Makeshift camp visible through a Haussmann archway in central Paris, 2024

Person sheltering under an umbrella beside a mattress on a wet Paris street at night

Empty bench on a quiet Paris street in autumn, with two figures walking in the distance

Polystyrene insulation panels left against a building doorway on a wet Paris pavement at night

Graffiti-covered arched tunnels behind a metal fence at the base of a Paris bridge, autumn 2024

Close-up of a construction worker's dirty hand holding a phone displaying architectural plans, Paris

Duvet and bedding left on a ledge under a concrete overpass in Paris at night

Anti-homeless bench on a Paris waterfront with industrial silos and a tower block in the background

Homeless person sleeping on a mattress covered with a pink blanket under a colourful Paris mural at night

Empty Paris side street at night with bollards and red graffiti on a building wall

Homeless man lying on a mattress at night in Paris, with a red heart balloon reading 'Je t'aime' on the wall above

Row of large boulders placed under a Paris bridge to prevent rough sleeping, behind a metal fence

Group of homeless people sleeping under a Paris metro viaduct at night, near a lit brasserie

Anti-homeless seating — bowl-shaped green seats on a Paris metro platform designed to prevent lying down

Row of mattresses and blankets forming a makeshift encampment along a Paris pavement at night

Oversized colourful plant pots with benches on a suburban Paris square, used as hostile urban furniture

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Paris,the forbidden city

Paris,
the forbidden city