The politics of social mix in the Paris metropolitan area

Social mix is a key dimension of housing policy to reduce segregation in different urban contexts, but it is frequently associated with a strategy of gentrification linked to the neoliberal restructuring of housing systems. Prior studies, however, tend to overlook the political and institutional mechanisms that influence the practices and outcomes of social mix. Building on fieldwork in a former working-class municipality in Paris suburbs, I draw on the theory of gradual institutional change to examine the politics of social mix. I show that evolving power relations among housing policy actors, fostered by political alignment and multiple office-holding processes, pave the way for gradual institutional changes based on conversion. These modifications to the local institutional arrangement shape new directions in housing policy that lead to the restructuring of the built environment and neighbourhood socioeconomic ascent. Overall, I contend that contextualized institutional and political processes are key to explaining the practices of social mix and their link with neoliberalisation and gentrification.