French Free-tax Zones (‘ZFUs’): A Tool for Improving Declining Neighborhoods?
Abstract
This article examines the French free-tax zone (‘zones franches urbaine’, or ZFU) policy that was launched in 1996 by the center-right government of Alain Juppé. The aim was to develop a new policy for declining urban neighborhoods in French cities, with the purpose of lowering high local unemployment rates. Over the first years of the policy, the tool was contested nationally by various socialist parties and governments, because some argued the policy gave too many advantages to entrepreneurs. However, at the local level it was popular with both socialist and conservative mayors, many of whom simply accessed the funding and adapted it to suit their own policy objectives. Since 1996, 100 sites have been designated ZFUs, with local stakeholders using the tool to re-develop neighborhoods, create new business parks, or expand and rejuvenate declining city centers. In many cases the results have been fragmented: areas with geographic advantages (e.g., proximity to a major highway or city center) have often benefited the most, while more isolated neighborhoods have continued to decline. The article concludes by noting that the ZFU policy has indeed brought benefits at the city level, but not necessarily at the level of the local neighborhoods that were the original focus of the initiative.References
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