Following legal changes in the 1980s, the Voluntary and Community sector/économie sociale in France has become culturally diverse as faith-based organisations serving minority ethnic communities have developed, including charities inspired by religious and cultural principles of charitable giving. In this article, we use a case study of a social welfare charity established in a Parisian suburb with a culturally diverse population. Worldwide social welfare work is a priority; the charity responds to disasters, but it prioritises long-term development actions, encouraging the direct involvement of local communities. In recent years, its work has also embraced distressed communities within France.

Former industrial suburbs, which are now the object of economic and functional transformations almost everywhere in Europe, are suitable testing grounds for implementing a more sustainable urban development. The case of the northern suburbs of Paris, which we will look at here, shows that there is no lack of political will or regulatory tools for imagining and planning this sustainable city. However, the social problems that affect these suburbs are a definite impediment to its realization.

Taxation on businesses, which makes up two thirds of local authorities' revenues, urges them to widen the range of their economic interventions. The communauté d'agglomération Plaine Commune is one of the most dynamic in the Parisian metropolis and has had considerable expertise at their disposal for 10 years. In order to ensure their economic influence, they now endeavour to stimulate and even structure some economic industries. Unfortunately, a local tax reform in progress may well jeopardise the pattern of development which is presented in this article.