France’s Economic Paradox: Aspirations Soaring, Immigrant Suburbs Soaring

France’s economic paradox is that the country has ambitions in the sky, but immigrant suburbs are at the bottom. The French suburbs are poorer, have lower educational achievements, and higher unemployment rates than other areas of the country. Despite the French government’s commitment to social housing, the suburbs have become “prisons” for the immigrant poor. The emerging urbanization regime of Paris has serious detrimental consequences for sociospatial justice and for possibilities of grassroots.

The paradox of prosperity in Europe is that the continent has become prosperous, but this prosperity has led to a paradoxical situation where the continent is now struggling to deal with the influx of migrants and refugees. The Swedish social model, for example, cannot economically support such a high immigration rate, despite its moral ambition to welcome the neediest of the world.