Construction, rehabilitation and destruction of social housing in Montluçon (1948-1988) : forty years of public policy seen at the local level ; Construction, réhabilitation et destruction de logements sociaux à Montluçon (1948-1988) : quarante ans de politique publique vue à l’échelle locale

Shortages and unsanitary conditions characterized the French housing stock of 1939. The destruction caused by the Second World War and the demographic recovery following the conflict further accentuate this situation. To salve this serious housing crisis, « Ministère de la Reconstruction et de l'Urbanisme » (MRU-Ministry of Reconstruction and Town Planning,) mobilized during the 1950s, financial, land, legislative and technical resources unprecedented. How does this Ministry, created in 1944, manage to implement a real public housing policy? This thesis proposes to study the indispensable collaboration of the central and departmental services of the MRU with the different local actors (municipalities, municipal employees, inhabitants and companies). His approach by the local wants to nuance the idea of centralism and state leadership that seem at first sight to characterize this period. To answer this problem I chose to focus on the construction, rehabilitation and destruction of social housing in Montluçon from 1948 to 1988. This medium industrial town was bombed in June 1940 and especially in September 1943 but it is not declared « sinistrée » (disaster). A town is only declared « sinistrée » (to be affected disaster) when more than 30% of its housing stock has been destroyed or damaged. The need for popular housing in this city is however very important to accommodate the workforce of the many steel, mechanical, chemical, pneumatic or electrical enterprises. « Office Public d'Habitation à Loyer Modéré de Montluçon » (OPHLM - Social Housing office) built more than 3,800 dwellings between 1956 and 1975, mostly in « Grands ensembles» (Housing Estates). These constructions contribute to reducing the shortage of housing in the agglomeration. But at least some of these dwellings are being put into service at a time when the European economic context is deteriorating as a result of« Choc pétrolier de 1973 » (1973 Oil crisis). The crisis was all the earlier in Montluçon because the steel companies were in great ...