| Although the Fourth and Fifth Republics were democratic governments, the French people had little say in architectural and urban planning. This situation arose because of the state's reaction to World War II, which destroyed twenty percent of the country's urban patrimony. In an effort to rebuild the ruins quickly and rationally, government officials created an authoritarian system of architectural and urban planning that broke with the laissez-faire traditions of the Third Republic. The Vichy regime allowed prominent architects and town planners to create centralized reconstruction agencies to rebuild war-torn cities and plan for long-term growth. Marshal Pétain's administration collapsed in 1944, but Vichy's autocratic policies remained intact under the Fourth Republic, which maintained control over the financial and technical aspects of urban planning and construction by tying financial aid to strict architectural regulations, both for public housing and state-assisted private construction.; The government also accelerated the pace of building by encouraging prefabrication and favoring public works companies capable of responding to such demands. In their search for efficient methods of construction, state officials cooperated with public works firms to produce the grands ensembles, massive apartment complexes erected in the suburbs of major cities. Only by producing the grands ensembles, thought government planners, could the French build enough apartments to house a growing population. Giant apartment complexes were not, however, ideal solutions because many residents experienced social problems, such as high rates of depression and juvenile delinquency. These mounting difficulties then encouraged government planners to rethink their approach to urban affairs and move toward public participation in architectural and urban planning.; Ironically, though, the initial shift toward popular participation came through the application of marketing research to government housing programs. In 1959 Pierre Sudreau, the first minister of construction under Charles de Gaulle, held a public referendum on apartment design. The “apartment referendum” did not immediately change all construction, but it did mark an important shift toward participatory planning. The protests of 1968 further propelled the switch to more inclusive planning techniques. These changes then culminated with the decentralization laws adopted in the 1980s under the leadership of François Mitterrand. |
