The suburbs of Paris faced challenges and became holders of Olympic gold?

Less than 500 meters from the Stade de France -- the dazzling centerpiece of the Olympic Games in Paris -- and the dilapidated neighborhood of Francs-Moisins, plagued by poverty and crime.

Samia Ashui, a secretary living in one of the dreary houses where drugs are sold, does not have a ticket to watch the Games.

Instead, she will listen to the applause and joyful cheers echoing over the canal.

Despite their name, the Paris Olympic Games will mainly take place in Saint-Denis, on the other side of the "Périphérique" highway, which separates the French capital from some of its poorest and most dangerous suburbs, known as banlieues.

The densely populated work area north of Paris is the site of four major venues for the Games, the Olympic Village, and other key facilities.

The development of Paris for the Games, which will take place from July 26 to August 11, is entirely based on the regeneration of this area, which has absorbed a wave of immigration and has the youngest population in the country.

A third of its 1.6 million residents live below the poverty line.

France hopes that the use of the Olympic Games will help accelerate the long-term development of the area and change the image of Saint-Denis, known as a hotspot for crime that emerged during the suburban riots that began in 2005.

The reputation of this area was further damaged in the global media after the fiasco of the 2022 Champions League final, when football fans were attacked and robbed on their way to the Stade de France.

Mohamed Gnabali is unwaveringly confident that the Games can help change Saint-Denis.

The mayor of Ile-Saint-Denis, a narrow island on the Seine where part of the Olympic Village was built, is very interested in making the Games "a game for the people."

To this end, his small municipality purchased 7,000 tickets - almost enough for all its residents.

The island, which also has dreary apartment buildings, was transformed by construction in preparation for the Olympics.

But the mayor is determined to extract maximum benefits from the Games, despite the fact that in June of last year, after the police shot a teenager during a traffic stop near Paris, unrest began to spread in waves again in the poor suburbs of France, and his city hall was looted.

“I have been working on this for three years,” said Gnabali, proud that the island is also home to the “African Station” of the Olympics, a fan zone dedicated to African culture and sports.

“We will suffer (from the entire construction), but it will transform our city, and we will find ourselves at the center of the reactor,” insists the mayor. “We will not be excluded from the Games.”

Not all residents of Saint-Denis share Gnabali's optimism.

“There are two extreme cases here,” says Cecile Gintrek from the local organization Vigilance JO. “One part of Paris will be one big celebration, while the other part won’t be able to go to work or move around” due to all the road closures and restrictions during the Olympics.

Mussa Sila, a 45-year-old courier driver living in France-Mouazén, where reconstruction is also taking place, says that the thought of the upcoming inconveniences gives him cold sweats.

“It will be a nightmare to move,” he says.

Right now in Saint-Denis, it's almost impossible to go anywhere without seeing scaffolding and cranes building new residential areas.

The Olympics are part of a long-term strategy to uplift the region, which began with the symbolic decision to build the Stade de France there for the 1998 World Cup, where the French "rainbow" team, made up of multinational players, emerged victorious.

High real estate prices in Paris and the extensive metro expansion in Seine-Saint-Denis - the largest infrastructure project in Europe - have made the area attractive for developers.

Companies like Tesla are relocating their French offices to former industrial areas where factories have long been closed.

“We need to find a second wind for Saint-Denis so that jobs remain here,” says Isabelle Vallentien, vice-chair of Solideo, the public body responsible for implementing Olympic projects.

“And the extremely dilapidated housing in Saint-Denis needs to be developed,” she adds.

The majority of the construction budget of 4.5 billion euros (4.8 billion dollars) allocated for the Games is going towards this program, with about 80 percent of the 1.7 billion euros in public funds directed to Saint-Denis.

Private investments are harder to assess, but they are likely not far behind.

Housing inheritance

The complex of buildings for the Olympic Village, the largest construction project of the Games, will accommodate 14,250 athletes and their support teams, as well as 6,000 Paralympians.

The complex being built on the former industrial area along the Seine River blends seamlessly into the architectural landscape, featuring numerous buildings facing the river.

All buildings with fewer than eight floors are made of wood, and energy for the main settlement comes from heat pumps and renewable energy sources.

After the Paralympics, the village will be transformed into a mixed-use area with apartments and offices. At the beginning of next year, the first of 6,000 new residents will move in, followed by a similar number of workers.

But only a third of the 2800 apartments will be sold on the open market.

Unlike previous Games, such as in London, where organizers were accused of "industrial-scale gentrification" and failing to keep promises to local residents, Isabelle Vallentien from Solideo says they insisted that developers "first and foremost address local housing needs."

Thus, between 25 to 40 percent of the apartments, depending on the three municipalities that make up the settlement, will be allocated for social housing, while the rest will be rented out at "affordable" prices through semi-public housing organizations.

A major victory for Saint-Denis is also the number of new swimming pools that it desperately needs.

The most notable of them is the Olympic Aquatic Center, a spectacular innovative wooden building located opposite the Stade de France, where medals will be awarded in diving, water polo, and artistic swimming.

The main Olympic swimming pool will also be located here, which will be dismantled and divided into two separate pools after the Games, as well as a new training pool.

The organizers also help fund two other pools.

Olympic-related venues are popping up like confetti all over Saint-Denis, and the small town of Duny is likely to undergo a transformation because of the Games.

Its population will increase by a third due to housing on the land inherited from the "media cluster" of the Olympics.

However, until now, Dunia has been poorly served by public transport, and now it is using the Games to diversify its housing stock, of which 77 percent is social housing, the highest rate in France.

A third of the 1,400 new homes is allocated to help people acquire property.

The young mayor of Dunja, Quenten Gezel, says that many of his friends "have lost their jobs under the luxurious influence, ending up like me in Dunja, and they had to leave because they can't buy or rent housing (their incomes are too high for social housing), but they would prefer to stay close to their families."

Another more subtle change is likely to be a series of new pedestrian bridges connecting areas that have long been divided by major roads and railway arteries.

A pedestrian and bicycle bridge is being built near the François Mitterrand area over the Canal de Saint-Denis to the Stade de France, replacing the old and unreliable drawbridge and steep staircase bridge.

“It’s a real nightmare for getting around right now,” says Karen, a mother of three.

The bridge has been discussed for many years, but the Games managed to make it a reality: two-thirds of the bridge's cost, which amounts to 10.5 million euros, was covered by Olympic funds.

The Olympics became a "lever that accelerated the transformation" of the area, says the head of the Saint-Denis council, Stéphane Troussel.

“In a record short time, we were able to implement a huge amount of infrastructure, housing, roads, and bridges,” he says. “Low-paying” jobs.

But there are doubts about the jobs that the Games promised to create in an area with an unemployment rate of 10.4 percent, which is almost a third higher than the national average.

“Games are hiring - find yourself a job!” - an announcement at the Olympic job fair near Charles de Gaulle Airport in December.

“I have been to many of them, and it’s always the same,” says Fuad Yusfi, walking between the booths in search of offers for cleaning and baking crafts.

"These are far from the companies you would want to work for, and they are often poorly paid."

Stefan Laurent, 47, is looking for a "job quickly" and is leaving the fair in Saint-Denis with an offer to undergo training as a security guard - exactly what is needed for the Games.

According to official estimates, around 180,000 people will be working at the Games, but most will receive short-term contracts, such as the 6,000 people being hired by Sodexo for service in the Olympic Village.

“We must be honest, there is likely a gap between the expectations placed on the Games and the level of unemployment and uncertainty that we have,” says Bernard Thibault, former leader of the CGT union, who holds a position on the Olympic committee.

Local companies also benefited by securing contracts worth 330 million euros, according to the Saint-Denis council.

But others doubt whether the economic dividend of the Games has reached the population.

“We are among the winners,” says Mehdi Oreziqi from the non-profit rehabilitation organization that received part of the laundry contract in the Olympic Village.

“But overall, local companies and rehabilitation programs are disappointed” in light of the large revenues, considering the potential of the Olympics, he adds.

However, in addition to the economic and infrastructure benefits, one of the most significant legacies of the Olympics may be how Saint-Denis will be perceived.

The police have already intensified operations against drug dealers, street vendors, and others who "monopolize public spaces," and a large-scale operation is planned to ensure safety at the Olympics itself.

But after the police station was attacked last week following the death of a teenager during a police car chase, and the head of the Mongolian delegation was robbed of jewelry worth nearly 600,000 euros on the way to a security committee meeting in October, the old bad reputation has proven difficult to change.

Welcoming guests from around the world this summer, Saint-Denis hopes to start a new chapter in its history, one that focuses not on crime and sporadic outbreaks of unrest, but on its diversity and potential.

Karen from the Frans-Mouazen area is praying that "increased visibility" will have a positive impact for everyone.

“I hope everything will be well organized because if it’s like in football (the chaotic scenes before the 2022 Champions League final), the reputation of Saint-Denis will suffer again.”