Urban Policies and Diversity: Addressing Social Inequalities in ‘Hyper-Diverse' Paris

In the past ten years, the notion of diversity has increasingly been discussed in link with the political challenge of responding to the diversification of population groups in European countries (Vertovec 2007). Although diversity has emerged in many European countries, including France (Jaunait Bereni 2008, Senac 2014), the concept mostly developed in societies where cultural differences are promoted. In the French context, where cultural differences are kept private, the notion is less in use, which should not overshadow the challenge caused by the increased diversification of the French population in the past decades (Bouvier 2012). In this paper we want to assess the ways in which urban policies concerned with social inequalities respond to the multidimensional aspect of diversity through the case study of Paris. Drawing on a series of interviews with governmental actors at various levels of public policy implementation, we will argue that social diversity is a major stake for Paris and that the city government implements programmes that seek to keep Paris a diverse city. As such, they develop approaches that are concerned with social and spatial inequalities. However, this response to diversity does not take into account ethnic diversity, because it is motivated by the French integrationist approach, which is focused on social and economic integration. We will highlight the implications of such a choice in terms of policy implementation and social justice.