ABSTRACT
Napoleon gave direct aid to the earliest housing project, named Cité Napoléon after himself, built by the Société des cités ouvrières. It provided only 86 housing units, built around an enclosed courtyard in central Paris. The rents were about 15 per cent of wages, far below the average rents for very inferior workers’ dwellings in the typical slum or ‘taudi’. The block was managed strictly through a concierge and incorporated not only solid rooms, a garden in the courtyard, heating and running water, but also a nursery for very young children, a school, and a medical service. Napoleon himself opened it.
