ABSTRACT
CONTEXT OF FRENCH NEW TOWNS Clear differences in context emerge in looking at the socio-economic and political circumstances in France this century and particularly since World War 2. The country was late to urbanise; in fact, it was only during the 1930s that 70% of the population were regarded as town dwellers (House, 1976). There had been little nineteenth century industrialisation; thus agriculture still dominated the country in the early twentieth century. Urban neglect and lack of public intervention by successive governments this century meant that even as late as the 1950s, there was very little public housing despite a substantial short-fall; what was evident was a reliance on an ageing, rapidly decaying housing stock dominated by private rented tenure. Finally, the lack of an effective planning administration to deal with urban problems exacerbated the situation.
