How the massive unrest of 2005 shaped urban design across France's deprived districts
On October 27th 2005 teenagers Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré were electrocuted while hiding from the police in an electrical substation in a northern suburb of Paris. Their deaths led to three weeks of protests and urban unrest across France. As part of a wider series on the events that took place 20 years ago and what has changed since, Mediapart here examines how the doctrine of “situational prevention” now influences urban planning in the country's deprived neighbourhoods in a bid to help the policing of future riots and unrest. In particular, this police-led approach dictates which architectural features are permitted - or banned - in new housing schemes.
OnOn the evening of June 27th 2023, after news came out that 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk had just been shot dead at point-blank range by a police officer in the west Paris suburb of Nanterre, dozens of deprived districts across France went up in flames. More scattered than the unrest of 2005 – which had been provoked by the death of two teenagers electrocuted in an electrical substation while hiding from the police - the 2023 disturbances ended after a week of fierce repression.
