ABSTRACT
Algeria was one of France s most important settler colonies and perhaps its key overseas possession. From the initial occupation of Algiers in 1830 up to the political independence of the country in 1962, French colonial policies were aimed primarily at maintaining military, economic and cultural control, and thereby sustaining imperial domination over Algerians. The 1950s were undoubtedly the most complex phase in the history of French Algeria. The colonial administration had to face growing tensions both inside and outside the colony. In Algeria, the social—political situation was characterised by the unprecedented determination of the native population to achieve national independence, set against the settlers' fervent attachment to the occupied land. In France, various opposition parties used the colonial issue to weaken the ruling regime of President Vincent Auriol. France lost its hold on Vietnam after the tragic defeat of Dian-Bien-Phu, and independence troubles began to shake Morocco and Tunisia from 1953. At the international level, the emerging rivalry of the two superpowers, America and the USSR, meant that both had become far less supportive of the idea of a "Greater France". The French colonial administration needed, more than ever before, to convince the whole world that Algeria was French, could not be anything else but French, and that the European and indigenous communities could live peacefully together. 1 In other words, Algerian nationalist separatist aspirations needed to be defeated by all means, and housing policy was to be one of these means. This chapter aims to show the political and cultural implications of the French housing projects within this colonial context.
