Post-Olympics, the alarm in Saint Denis: “Huge ecological and housing damage”
Alexandre Schon: “Denatured neighborhood, many people no longer have a home because of the Games”
Mondo (Parigi). In Paris, people are starting to talk about the post-Olympics and what the Games will leave as a legacy. In Saint Denis, the neighborhood where the Olympic village is located, all that glitters is not gold: “They have invaded the neighborhood with concrete – the accusation of Alexandre Schon, one of the representatives of the Supervisory Committee for the Olympic Games in Paris and a resident of the Seine-Saint Denis neighborhood – For years we have witnessed construction sites that have only brought concrete as well as the coming and going of heavy vehicles. It was supposed to be a neighborhood full of greenery, we would desperately need it, and instead we will find ourselves with a business district that was not needed”. Yes, because Saint Denis, known abroad for the presence of the Stade de France but a Parisian municipality packed with poor families, now risks not being able to accommodate the families it used to: “The Olympic village – says Schon – will leave behind buildings full of offices, but this is a neighborhood where people need a home to stay. More than 50% of the housing was public housing, from September less than 25% will be. Furthermore, the Olympics here have already brought an increase in the cost of housing to the point where they can no longer afford it, completely overturning the history of this area”. Even the road system has its weight: “They built a motorway junction at the gates of the neighborhood, we have already experienced months of traffic jams and smog, all a stone’s throw from a school complex composed of more than 600 students. It’s a social, ecological and justice problem” he concludes. (Andrea Eusebio e Alessandro Boldrini/alanews)
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