Socio-economic disparities and spatial segregation are stark in Paris and represent a key barrier to integration. The unemployment rate in the Ile-de France region is nearly double for foreign-born persons as compared to those who are native born. The metropolitan area of Greater Paris (around 7 million inhabitants) has the highest income inequalities among French metropolitan areas. Within the metropolitan area of Paris, it is in the city of Paris where those inequalities are widest. The Northeast neighbourhoods concentrate high unemployment rates and social housing, whereas centre and western districts and most of the southern districts are more affluent. Migrant residents are highly concentrated in those areas facing more socioeconomic difficulties. In the most economically deprived neighbourhoods (i.e. targeted by the City Policy), 30% of residents are foreign born, 10 percentage points more than the city’s average.

The City has implemented several initiatives to address segregation and inclusion. To reduce the feeling of separation and decrease prejudice across neighbourhoods, the City of Paris engaged in a communications campaign. The most deprived neighbourhoods were renamed as “the must-go zones” in response to a U.S. television reference that these neighbourhoods were “no-go zones”. The City also implements short-term initiatives to spur day-to-day interactions across communities by creating attractive public spaces for all, particularly in those areas. Nevertheless, more long-term inclusion will be the result of smart spatial and housing planning that creates affordable and attractive solutions where different groups can live together. The City of Paris, together with the City of Gothenburg are amongst the most innovative cities in the sample of this study in terms of designing housing solutions that factor-in the well-being of all groups and that foster urban cohesion.

Migrants account for two thirds of the total homeless population in Paris. The peak of arrivals since 2015 has increased the number of migrants living in spontaneous camps throughout the city and in particular in the northeast area. As of March 2018, around 1 900 migrants were estimated to be living in such conditions in Paris. Some of them were asylum seekers who cannot access the French asylum system because they have been registered in other EU countries under Dublin regulations, and others could not be sheltered in the national reception system because of its limited accommodation capacities.

The approach to migrant integration at the national level aims at easing access to universal services for all groups rather than creating specific policies targeting migrants. A significant exception to this uniform approach is the Contract of Republican Integration (Contrat d’intégration républicaine - CIR) which has existed since 2007. This contract mainly focuses on the provision of language classes and takes place during the first five years of a migrant’s residence in the country. The CIR is usually not implemented in coordination with lower levels of government that often set up local initiatives to fill gaps in the provision of language classes.

However, French authorities are currently reforming the integration system through two main processes. First, in 2018 a Parliamentary report entitled “For an Ambitious Integration Policy of Foreigners arriving in France” calls for a national integration policy. The proposal highlights the current fragmentation of actors participating in the integration of migrants and calls for strong vertical and horizontal coordination. The proposed integration policy foresees to strengthen the CIR by increasing the supply of language learning courses along with simplifying migrants’ access to employment, education, health, housing and social welfare services. Second, since 2018 an Inter-ministerial Delegate for Refugee Integration has been embedded within the Ministry of Interior with the mandate to implement the National Strategy for Refugee Integration (2018-2020). The strategy envisages not only a cross-sectoral committee at national level but also local steering committees that will involve préfets and local authorities.

Several Paris-based Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) provide support in integration-related domains, and many new NGOs emerged since 2015 to respond to refugee arrivals. Since 2015, Paris has tested new coordination modalities with NGOs in managing the reception of asylum seekers and refugees. First, since 2015 the action plan “Mobilisation of the Paris Community for Refugee Reception” is collectively updated and monitored through a platform that brings together, twice a year, the municipality and partner stakeholders involved in the domain. Second, the two first-reception Humanitarian Centres for Asylum Seekers (CPA) set up in 2016 were managed through a multi-stakeholder co-ordination mechanism with NGOs as well as national and local authorities.

Nevertheless, it seems that coordination mechanisms among NGOs and between them and the municipality could be strengthened with regards to long-term integration measures. For instance, sectoral co-ordination platforms for language courses could strengthen the co-operation among NGOs and improve the effectiveness of the classes offered to migrants. The city of Barcelona has implemented such a platform. In terms of funding, grants for migrant integration-related projects tend to be allocated to local NGOs in small amounts and on a short-term basis - often annually. More long-term funding for integration and an effort for streamlining the calls for projects issued from different levels of government and different city departments would allow NGOs to be more sustainable and effective.

The municipality sets aside dedicated resources and has an active approach to migrant integration, which places Paris amongst the European cities analysed in this study with the most structured tools to tackle integration. However, more could be done in terms of seeking policy coherence to avoid horizontal fragmentation of policy-making and service delivery. Despite the high number of municipal directorates and policies (i.e. City Policy, Pact to address Exclusion, Pact for Labour Market Inclusion) which have a direct impact on integration, there is no working group to align the objectives and measure of the results that collectively the city is achieving in the long-term in this area.

There are opportunities to better capitalise on the City’s efforts through evidence-based decision-making. For instance, by sharing across directorates the experiences of its different social service departments and the information collected through the integration budget, the City could collectively identify the gaps. It could then formulate joint strategies and policies around a “road-map approach” which ensures migrants’ equal access to services over time. This approach could be mainstreamed in relevant policy portfolios and orient operational services towards the standards they need to meet, such as improving linkages across administrations and transfer of information, among others. Examples of evidence-based decision making that could serve as an example can be found in the case study on the City of Gothenburg.

The integration process concerns both migrants and native-born communities. Since 2015, the municipality together with civil society organisations has implemented innovative pilot projects to bridge the divides and create proximity between long established communities and newcomers.

First, the City facilitates matching between the offer of and the demand for volunteer work through the web platform “Je m’engage” (in English: “I commit”) launched in 2015. Second, the city invests in public spaces that can encourage interaction across groups. The municipality supported the creation of spaces where different communities could meet, share their interests and where new talents could emerge, often reviving sites in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Two noteworthy examples include the cultural centre “104” created in early 2000s, in a neighbourhood characterised by a strong presence of migrants. The “Les grands voisins” (“The Big Neighbours”) is a project that revived an old hospital area close to the centre of Paris using the space as a shelter for refugees, as well as start-ups, artist workshops, restaurants and bars, attracting Parisians and migrants alike thanks to its innovative use of space.

A priority of Paris in its approach to the integration of migrants is the elimination of obstacles to citizenship and social and legal rights. This is done by offering targeted legal assistance and making sure universal services, in particular social services, are adapted to migrant needs. The objective is to guarantee over time that migrants can access universal services on their own. For instance the city has invested in several mechanisms to facilitate access to residence permits, such as through free legal consultation services, translation of administrative documents, etc. Furthermore, the city has implemented entry points to guide vulnerable residents through universal services such as the multi-service mediation and information points (PIMMS) to ensure that the most vulnerable groups living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods can access their rights or the “Mobile City Council” which visits three sites per week in disadvantaged areas.

The municipality is engaged in eliminating administrative and language barriers that migrants might encounter when accessing public services. To do so, trainings are offered to municipal agents in several branches of city government on how to receive users with a foreign background. Since 2004, more than 1 000 municipal officers have been trained to promote equality and combat discrimination. Since 2016, the city has also invested in training for municipal health professionals to address the specific health and social needs of migrants.