France seeks to use the Olympics to revitalise Seine-Saint-Denis and change its image from a crime-ridden area born out of suburban riots in 2005. The Paris north district is a key place for the Olympics and will host the athletes’ village, four big venues for the event and other Olympic sites.

Its reputation suffered another blow in the global media following the debacle of the 2022 Champions League Final, during which football fans were subjected to attacks and robberies on their way to the Stade de France and, two years later, UEFA finally settled with Liverpool fans, after having to apologise last year for the mistakes made in 2022.

The mayor of Ile-Saint-Denis, the narrow island in the Seine, Mohamed Gnabaly, is “obsessed” with making the Olympics “a people’s Games.”

Gnabaly is committed to maximising the benefits of the Games, even though his town hall was vandalised during riots following the police shooting of a teenager outside Paris last June. “We have suffered (with all the work) but not only will this transform our town, we will be at the heart of the reactor. We are not going to be left out by the Games.”

“There are two extremes,” said Cecile Gintrac of Vigilance JO to AFP, a local watchdog group. “One part of Paris is going to be a big party while the other won’t be able to go to work or get around” because of all the Olympic road closures and restrictions.

“It is going to be a nightmare to get around,” Delivery driver Moussa Syla, 45, who lives in the Francs-Moisins estate said to AFP.

Rising property values in Paris, coupled with the upcoming completion of Europe’s largest infrastructure project, the extension of its metro system into Seine-Saint-Denis, has made the department attractive to developers.

Isabelle Vallentin, the number two at Solideo, the state body charged with delivering the Olympic projects, said, “Seine-Saint-Denis’s extremely decrepit housing has to be developed.”

A significant portion of the €4.5 billion construction budget for the Games is being allocated to this initiative, with the department being the primary beneficiary, receiving approximately 80 per cent of the €1.7 billion in public funds.

The legacy of the build constructions will begin after the Paralympics. The Olympic Village, the Games’ biggest building project and a whole new eco-neighbourhood in itself, will transition into a mixed-use neighbourhood with apartments and offices. The first 6,000 residents are set to move in early next year, along with a matching number of workers, but only one-third of the 2,800 apartments will be available for sale on the open market.

Unlike London’s Games, criticised for “gentrification on an industrial scale” and broken promises to locals, Solideo’s Vallentin said they insisted developers “respond first to (local) housing needs.” So, 25 to 40 per cent of the apartments will go to social housing, while the other houses will be to an “affordable” price.

Seine-Saint-Denis will benefit also from multiple new swimming facilities, including the Olympic Aquatic Centre, the main Olympic pool to be repurposed post-Games to two new training pools and organisers are also helping pay for two others.

A new pedestrian and bicycle bridge is under construction over the Saint-Denis canal, connecting to the Stade de France. This bridge will replace an outdated and unreliable rotating road bridge, as well as a steep pedestrian crossing with steps.

“(Actually) you have to fold up the pushchair and take the baby in the other arm. So, this is really great, a real plus for the area,” said Karene to AFP, a mother of three.

This bridge can be possible with the Games paying two-thirds of the final cost which amounts to €10.5 million.

Another part of the Paris 2024 legacy that intends to be left behind in Seine-Saint-Denis is related to the job. According to official estimates, approximately 180,000 individuals will be employed for the duration of the Games, with the majority expected to have short-term contracts. “We need to find a second wind for Seine-Saint-Denis, so jobs stay here,” Vallentin said.

“We have to be honest, there is probably a mismatch between what was expected of the Games and the level of unemployment and precarity we have,” said Bernard Thibault to AFP, a former CGT union leader who sits on the Olympics committee.

One of the most significant legacies of the Olympics could be transforming the perception of Seine-Saint-Denis. A massive security operation is planned for the Games, but recent incidents, including an attack on a police station and the robbery of jewels from the head of the Mongolian delegation, have made it challenging to change the negative image of the area.

“I hope it is well organised because if it is like the football (the chaotic scenes before the 2022 Champions League Final), Saint-Denis’s image will plummet again,” concluded Karene.

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